I was called ugly, comedian Shiro of Auntie Boss reveals

 Nice Wanjeri [Photo: Courtesy]

Before she made it to the TV screen, Nice Wanjeri better known as Shiro, had to endure humiliation and rejection to make it where she is today.

Speaking to Shaffie and Adelle, the Auntie Boss actress revealed how she has been turned away from auditions either because she was too short, didn’t have the right body size, or because of her ‘funny’ hairstyle which saw her get cast as a call girl.

‘’There are those who go home crying about it and it is over, but as for me, I had a very low self-esteem when I was young, until 2016. It still comes back at times, but you have to live with it. I used to go to a place, nikiambiwa I am slender, I would not sleep,’’ she said during the radio interview.

At 18 and not ready to give up, the popular actress found her way to the National theater where auditions were ongoing.

‘’They were asking for 100 bob to pay for the registration form so you could go in and do your auditions. I did not have the money and so I talked to the guy there and he allowed me in, though I was among the last people to go in,” she narrated.

Once in, ‘’I found so many guys inside who wanted to audition,’’ she recalled.

By some cosmic luck, she was called next after three guys.

‘’I asked, ‘kwani nafanya interview mbele ya hawa wengine?’ And I was told that is what happens,’’ she said thinking she had gone there for an interview already in a suit.

The person conducting the auditions called her name but the remark he made after that, left her incensed.

“He said, Nyce Wanjeri, can you stand up. Then he said, ‘Unajua hawa watu wanaitwa majina kama Nyce are very ugly?’”

In shock and angry, she had to get into character and play the role of a mother whose underage daughter was getting married. The character had to be angry and to get her talent across she was asked to get someone from the audience to act as her husband.

“I chose him and this was my chance to express the anger he had caused by calling me ugly. I banged the table to the extent he could not take it anymore. After that he said he needed a guy who could keep up with my energy,” the actress narrated.

 “I went home smiling and said to myself, people who call you ugly do not know what you are made of. That is how my journey started,’’ she concluded.