Thuso Mbedu

Thuso Nokwanda Mbedu (born 8 July 1991) is a South African actress, She rose to prominence for her performance in the South African teen drama series Is'Thunzi for which she was nominated consecutively for an International Emmy in 2017 and 2018. Mbedu later appeared on the 2018 Forbes Africa 30 under 30 list. In 2021, she starred in the Amazon Video limited series The Underground Railroad as Cora, which made her the first South African actress to lead an American television series, and earned her the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series. She then made her feature film debut in the American historical epic The Woman King (2022) in the role of Nawi. Early life Mbedu was born at Midlands Medical Centre in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal to a Zulu mother and a father of Sotho and Xhosa descent. She was raised in the Pelham area by her Zulu grandmother, who became her legal guardian after the passing of both her parents at an early age. Mbedu attended Pelham Primary School and then Pietermaritzburg Girls' High School. She went on to study Physical Theatre and Performing Arts Management at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), graduating in 2013 with honours, after also having taken a course at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City in 2012.