Thuso Mbedu, a South African actor, is firmly established in the American film industry. Mbedu won the Outstanding Breakthrough Actress award at the 23rd annual Black Reel Awards for her role as Nawi in The Women King.
Last year, the 31-year-old was named one of the New York Times’ Top Ten Best Actors of 2022.
According to the film’s synopsis, The Woman King is the incredible story of the Agojie army, an all-woman unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen.
Outstanding Breakthrough Actress Winner: @ThusoMbedu @TheWomanKingsa #blackreelawards #bolts23 pic.twitter.com/o9dZwq5sez
— Black Reel Awards (@BlackReelAwards) February 7, 2023
The Black Reel Awards were founded in 2000 to recognize African-American film achievement in feature, independent, and television films. In 2021, the Pietermaritzburg-born actor received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series for her role as Cora in The Underground Railroad. Mbedu became the first South African actor to play the lead in an American television series with this role.