Benjamin Onyango: For the past few years, a number of talented Kenyan actors like Lupita Nyong’o climb up the ladder to make a name for themselves in Hollywood.
However, little is known of other Kenyans like Benjamin ‘Benji’ Onyango who was among the pioneers to make an entry into Hollywood.
Early Life
Benji, as he’s popular known, grew up in Ofafa Jericho and he is the second born in a family of seven boys and attended Ofafa Jericho Primary School and later Ofafa Jericho Secondary School.
In his teen years in Jericho, Benjamin Onyango was the Lead guitarist for the only rock band in Nairobi then called Fireplace.
They used to play at the then Revolving Restaurant which was located on top of the Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC) building every Sunday afternoons.
Benjamin Onyango left Kenya in 1987 to pursue further education in the United States of America. He attended California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock, California, but later relocated to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in Music and Acting.
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Speaking during a past interview at a local media house, the actor from Ugenya in Siaya County narrated how he was forced to do odd jobs in order to raise funds for his education and for his survival.
‘My first job was as a dishwasher and a busboy. I also worked at the wages department of the school and later in the evening worked at a pizza shop,”
he narrated.
The 1992 IT graduate completed his degree after seven years and decided to follow his passion for acting in Hollywood.
Landing His First Role
Due to the competitiveness of the acting industry in the United States, the dream of the Kenyan-born actor came true after he got the opportunity as an extra in a movie set.
An extra is a person who features in the background of a movie or a film, their role is to always make the set appear like a real place. For instance, in some sets you may see the extras walking, they may form the congregation in a church setting among other scenarios.
“When I was working in the streets, I saw a sign advertising for actors as they needed extras. When I got home, I called in and that is how I got the role where I worked for over 50 to 60 movies.”
“The extras are the people that will always be in the background. It is not easy because sometimes you have to sit on the set for even 16 hours. The pay was okay though as we would take home roughly Ksh5,000 per day,”
he revealed.
To date, he has featured on several high-profile movies that include; God’s Not Dead, Two Worlds, General Hospital, X-Files, Dysfunctional Organized, and The Shield among others.
Further his role as an extra opened other opportunities to teach cast members how to speak Kiswahili. His knowledge of the national language also saw him get promoted to the category of extra who are allowed to speak in a scene.
Benji’s Major Breakthrough
His major opening came when he least expected, as he was taking his 7-year-old daughter for an audition, but ended up being the one selected for his first major acting role on the movie Tears in the Sun.
“I was taking my kids for auditions, My daughter Mary who was 7 years at the time started speaking on how I would act. After that, the casting director came to me and asked me if I would audition for a role in the movie,”
he revealed.
After his talent from the movie was noticed, Benjamin Onyango got other opportunities and was picked as the lead actor for Beautifully Broken (2018).
