CHARLES NKURIKIYINKA, commonly known by his character name ‘Umukonyine’ in ‘Umuturanyi Series’, has made a name for himself from mimicking the lifestyle and dialect of Rwandans living in the Eastern Province, earning him fame and admiration of many. The actor in an exclusive interview with The New Times shared his journey into acting. He pursued his secondary studies in Uganda doing History, Economy and Geography and later on studied Psychology, Philosophy and Sociology before returning to Rwanda to pursue Procurement in university. “After completing studies, due to the passion I had for cinema industry, I joined KFTV to learn more about acting surrendering to it professionally. I took on an acting and film making course so that I will be a professional in this for I loved it so much,” he said. He advised actors and those aspiring to venture into the profession to learn more skills for their talent, which he believes might add some icing on their cakes. When asked about his role in ‘Umuturanyi Series’ he explained that it is all about how Rwandans have various lifestyle due to the places they come from which sometimes include different dialects, dressing code, beliefs and myths. The series, directed by local comedian, Emmanuel Mugisha, is entertaining in the sense that it showcases the different norms and Kinyarwanda accents, from different parts of Rwanda alongside an actress named Sandrine Uwimpundu, best known as Rufonsine, who plays the role of a villager from the northern part of Rwanda with broken Kinyarwanda.. Nkurikiyinka acts as a cattle owner from the eastern part of the country In relation to his character, he said; “Our audience should know that mine this is just a role in the movie. Some people think that I normally live upcountry which is not true. I stay in Kigali in daily life and that is where I even work from.” When he is not acting, Nkurikiyinka works in the Hospitality Management industry, as a hotel manager, although he looking forward to working in the cinema industry full time. He called on investors to consider Rwandan movie industry in their budgets because he believes it is a sustainable market that needs to be improved through financial support.
