Mizinga Anthony Mwinga (born 3 January 1980) is a Zambian actor.
Biography
Mwinga was born in Zambia, the son of Dave and Carole Mwinga. His father is an engineer. Mwinga's brother, Stephen, works as a model, while his sister, Alice, is a cook. Mwinga attended elementary school in the
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
neighborhoods of
Pierrefonds and
Pointe-Claire
Pointe-Claire (, ) is a Quebec local municipality within the Urban agglomeration of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in Canada. It is entirely developed, and land use includes residential, light manufacturing, and retail. As of the 2021 ce ...
. As he had relatives there, he moved to England before high school. In college, Mwinga took his first acting class on his mother's advice, and he immediately loved it.
Mwinga had several small roles in theater, films, and television. He had a role in London's West End production of the play ''Sweet Charity''.
In 2012, Mwinga had his first big role in a film, as the rebel leader Grand Tigre Royal in
Kim Nguyen
Kim Nguyen is a Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for his 2012 film ''War Witch (Rebelle)''. The film was the top winner at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards;[War Witch
''War Witch'' (french: Rebelle) is a 2012 Canadian dramatic war film written and directed by Kim Nguyen and starring Rachel Mwanza, Alain Lino Mic Eli Bastien and Serge Kanyinda. It is about a child soldier forced into a civil war in Africa, an ...]
''. The film deals with child soldiers in sub-Saharan Africa, and Mwinga's character believes that Komona (
Rachel Mwanza
Rachel Mwanza is an actress from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, best known for her performance as Komona in the 2012 film ''War Witch (Rebelle)''. Prior to being cast in the film, she was homeless and living on the streets of Kinshasa.
Earl ...
) in a sorceress. In order to play the role, Mwinga had to learn to speak the
Lingala language
Lingala (Ngala) (Lingala: ''Lingála'') is a Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser degree ...
, taking months of practice. As he had to handle automatic weapons, Mwinga and the cast had to be escorted by a military convoy while in the Democratic Republic of the Congo due to unwanted attention from local criminals. ''War Witch'' received several awards and was nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for Best Foreign Film. In 2013, Mwinga had a small part in ''
White House Down
''White House Down'' is a 2013 American political action thriller film directed by Roland Emmerich and written by James Vanderbilt. In the film, a divorced US Capitol Police officer attempts to rescue both his daughter and the President of ...
''.
He starred in
Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction.
Aronof ...
's 2017 film ''
Mother!
''Mother!'' (stylized as ''mother!'') is a 2017 American psychological horror film written and directed by Darren Aronofsky, and starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, Brian Gleeson, and Kr ...
''.
Mwinga lives in Montreal and volunteers at the local YMCA.
Filmography
Television
Films
References
External links
Mizinga Mwindaat the
Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mwinga, Mizinga
1980 births
Living people
Zambian male actors
People from Lusaka
Black Canadian male actors