Introducing Gugu Zulu

Edwain Steenkamp gets to know Gugu Zulu during a mad dash across town to her photoshoot in the Mother City. Despite the rush, the movie star is COOL, CALM and COLLECTED

- Edwain Steenkamp

She’s been in transit for over seven hours but Gugu Zulu looks poised as she gets into the backseat of the car, clad in classic jeans and a black tank top. We (the Uber and I) have just picked her up and have only 40 minutes to talk as we slowly crawl through the traffic from Cape Town International to the studio in the Mother City. Gugu has just four hours with us in Cape Town, before she has to catch another flight to Johannesburg later this evening. But even in this rush, she quietly takes in everything around her.

Her new film, the musical She Is King, is a celebration of powerful women, Gugu tells me. ‘That’s why it means so much to me. It’s the story of a young girl leaving a small town to make it in the industry against all odds. This is similar to my own experience.

‘My character auditions for a role in a musical about one of the most powerful women in Zulu history, Princess Mkabayi, who was Shaka Zulu’s aunt. She was a fearless and wise woman. There are so many important stories intertwined in She Is King.’

Gugu says that the film also represents a defining moment in her career. ‘I got to work with some of the biggest names in the industry,’ she says. ‘Khanyi Mbau, who is one of the most incredible women I’ve ever met, Mbuso Kgarebe, Aubrey Poo, Mandisa Nduna, and so many other talented people. It was surreal. It still is.’