Kissing a woman on screen is just business, not romance- Kenyan actor Nick Mutuma

Your new film, Nollywood Romcom, is one of the most anticipated series of 2016. What is it all about?

It is called This is it and was shot on Victoria Island. We started shooting in March and in a span of five weeks we were done and dusted. It is a Romcom series about the ups and downs of a newly-wed life’s.

I play Tomide, a young man who is half Kenyan and Nigerian and is married to a Nigerian lady Dede (Chiagoziem Nwakanma). It follows the first year journey of young, clueless newlyweds, how they adjust to living together, dealing with friends and the dramas of being married.

The season focuses on the first 6 months of a new marriage. It is a 13-episode series and it will make its debut on LowlaDeeTV on youtube on September 13. However, the trailer is currently available online.

How did you land this role?

The series director saw my work on Shuga and approached me. It was also a coincidence since the Nigerian actor they were banking on to play the role was unavailable.

Your new series has a lot of kissing and touching. How does your girlfriend Tanasha Oketch deal with it?

She understands my work and knows it is simply make believe. She is very supportive of what I do. I admit I was a little scared to show her the trailer for the new series. It is part of my work and something I cannot avoid.

You are the longest serving cast of the Shuga TV series and you will be appearing in Season 5. Tell us more

The first and second Shuga was shot in Kenya and featured an only Kenyan cast. In season three and four,it was shot in Nigeria and we had  some Nigerian actors taking part. Now, the next season will be shot in South Africa and will also include cast members from there. It will be more of a Pan African cast.

Most Shuga cast have fallen by the waste side but you have managed to last, what is the secret?

I really do not know, maybe it’s because people can easily relate with my character Leo, he is that good guy who can’t help making bad decisions. The character Leo has evolved so much since Season One of Shuga and it has been an interesting journey bringing him to life. So I am very excited to see the new script and how Leo has grown and changed.

 You are currently working with Brenda Wairimu in another Romcom film. How is that going?

We are still in the pre-production stage of our crowd created Romcom film. It is a very interesting project that Brenda Wairimu began last year before roping me in.

She asked her fans online to nominate two Kenyan actors who they wanted to see in a Kenyan Romcom film, and they nominated Brenda and me. And because it is an entirely crowd created film, we then asked our fans to send us different synopsis of the kind of story lines they wanted to watch in the film.

We received quite a number and chose the synopsis sent in by Safina Iqbal. She is currently working with Natasha Likimani, the script writer, for the famed film Veve. Tosh Gitonga who directed Nairobi Half-life will direct the film. Soon, we will be asking our fans to help us pick the rest of the cast, but because we want it to be a Pan African film we will also include cast members from Tanzanian and Ugandan.

We are hoping to release the film in December this year. Additionally, I will begin shooting a Kenyan /Nigerian collaboration next month.

Apart from film what else do you do?

I run a mentorship programme called Breaking the mold, its website is available on btm.co.ke. I established it this year, and it was born out of my desire to help to instill values in today’s young men as they transition into adult hood. The project seeks to nurture young men in Campus by equipping them with ‘tools’ for success in their private lives and careers.

It is a monthly workshop where male students will have the opportunity to interact and learn from successful men (mentors/role models) within different careers.

 I believe that it is important that leaders of our community join hands in ensuring that our young men grow up to be honourable, honest, and hard working men of character.