Q&A: Charmaine Bingwa, actor, 37

Zimbabwean-born, Perth raised actor Charmaine Bingwa on growing up between two cultures, being a queer role model, and what it was like to work alongside Will Smith in Emancipation.

Charmaine Bingwa. Picture: Supplied

Your parents immigrated to Australia from Zimbabwe. What prompted their move? It was really a desire for adventure, which worked out well because they left around 1978, just before the Rhodesian war ended. Many people were celebrating because the war was ending and the freedom fighters were prevailing. The sense was the Zimbabwean people had won. But my father had concerns so he chose to move his family to Australia.

What was it like for you growing up in Perth? I was truly living between two cultures. Within my family at home it was very Zimbabwean and my parents were very strict. I would always notice how much white kids seemed to get away with. It was very interesting navigating between the two worlds and it’s probably why I’m able to play characters all the time.

Was show business something you were always interested in? I don’t have one of those romantic acting stories that always starts with something like “when I saw Dustin Hoffman in that role when I was six I knew it was what I wanted to do”. I had no interest in it whatsoever and I spent a lot of my time pursuing music growing up. But it wasn’t until I took an elective in acting at music school that it all started making sense. I just knew that it was what I should be doing.

You’re the first to win the Heath Ledger Scholarship as an openly queer person of colour. What has that been like for you? It’s beautiful and affirming to me. Growing up as a person of colour in Australia I wasn’t sure that there would be any kind of work for me or that opportunities for me really existed, so it was really validating from a craft sense that I was on the right track. Winning the scholarship in 2018 has led to me spending some time with Heath’s family, and they’ve since become very important people in my life.

Your character in The Good Fight, Carmen Moyo, emerged as one of the stars. What was it like playing her? She has such an air of mystery. She keeps her cards close to her chest, but she is a total boss bitch. There’s been times in my personal life where I’ve wanted to kick it out of situations and I think “Would Carmen just let this person get away with this?” She gives me a bit more of a backbone and courage. I love that she’s become a clear favourite as well as a queer role model people can look up to. I didn’t have any queer role models or superheroes when I was growing up, so I’m all for it.

What was it like working on the film Emancipation, the story of Peter (played by Will Smith), a runaway slave? Working on one of the greatest scripts I’ve read, with absolute masters at the height of their creative powers, it was a dream. We were all so committed to honouring Peter’s story and this important chapter of history, it felt Olympic walking out onto that set every day. Dodienne, the character I play, is so special to me and in many ways a homage to the tender, courageous, selfless black women I have grown up with and known. I simply adore Antoine Fuqua as a director, Will Smith and Ben Foster are extraordinary – the entire cast and crew dug deep.

What new project are you working on? I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of King Shaka, a historical epic that follows Shaka’s unlikely rise to power, uniting multiple tribes across southern Africa in the early 19th century. I play Isisa, a fierce and formidable warrior – so there’s no faking the physical preparation required! But what I didn’t anticipate is just how emotionally rewarding it has been to be a part of a series so aligned with my ethnic heritage. I sent my mother a video of one of the village sets. She tearfully responded that it was just like the clay hut she grew up in. In so many ways this role fulfils my longing for links to my lineage. And I have fallen in love with South Africa. It feels like a second home.

The Good Fight streams on SBS On Demand and Emancipation on Apple TV+. Season 1 of Shaka: King of the Zulu Nation starts in 2023