FROM Kenya to the Border, Makwaya ‘Mak’ Masudi, is one to watch.
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After long aspiring to become an actor, Mak will make his television debut on the ABC TV’s latest legal drama – Newton’s Law.
Newton’s Law follows a suburban solicitor’s (Claudia Karvan) journey as she resumes her career at the bar.
The 22-year-old worked alongside a star-studded Australian cast, including Karvan, Toby Schmitz, Georgina Naidu and Miranda Tapsell.
Mak impressed the casting panel from the get go, immediately being asked back for a second audition, leading to a meeting with director Jennifer Leacey.
“It was scary, I was wondering what I had done,” Mak said.
What he had done was impress Leacey, landing the role of Zareb Mulumba, an office cleaner turned client of the featured law firm.
Mak said the two months spent filming on set as an “extraordinary” experience.
“Meeting such amazing people on set and working with such well-known names was amazing,” Mak said.
“It’s a big role for someone like me with not much experience.”
Mak is well prepared after completing a “full-on” year at the New York Film Academy in Queensland as well as some smaller acting jobs and auditions.
Newton’s Law will mark Mak’s public acting debut.
However, getting to where he is today has been no easy road.
Before relocating to Albury-Wodonga, the Masudi family were living in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.
Being of refugee background, it's hard to make it in any industry but it can also work to your advantage.
- Makwaya Masudi
When he was younger, Mak recalls being at a poetry performance when he was told his baby sister had died shortly after childbirth.
“I was filled with emotion but I felt that there was little I could do, she had passed, my mother would be grieving. I took all the emotion and finished my performance,” he said.
“I felt some sort of blessing. My little sister had passed but she had life, as short as it was. That realization was in my performance and still is in my performances to this day.”
Despite the rocky start, Mak still holds a positive outlook.
“Being of refugee background, it’s hard to make it in any industry but it can also work to your advantage,” Mak said.
“You have so much to choose from and to present your own life work as a motivation to yourself.”
As for what’s next – Mak’s keeping quiet, hinting at an American project in the works.