Pearl Thusi On Why QUEEN SONO IS IMPORTANT FOR SOUTH AFRICA

NETFLIX’S first African production Queen Sono has made quite the splash these past few weeks. Not only did it land on multiple ‘most watched’ lists in Netflix territories, but it’s shown the world that African stories have the potential to resonate with a universal audience. Of course, it’s had quite an effect on its star, Pearl Thusi, as well, and the actress recently spoke about the importance of the show for her career and what it means for the African entertainment industry going forward.

“I reached the point in my career after doing shows like and a few movies where I didn’t want reverence and respect for my career to come from American validation. I’m trying to push, on my personal level and even using my career, that Africans need to be proud of Africans while they are still in Africa,” said. “I look up to and really have a lot of respect for the Nigerian culture; they really have a lot of pride and a strong spirit of self-belief. They have a really strong entertainment industry, whereas specifically in South Africa and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, people want validation from first-world properties and industries. For example, does a song with and all of a sudden he’s more popular than what he was before. That is very important – however, we can be superstars right here at home, like and , who have spread their wings throughout the world, but the core of their music and identity is Nigerian.”