Shish: Overcoming Tahidi’s image was hard and it almost ruined my career

Actress Shirleen Wangari has come out to narrate how getting a role at Tahidi High was a gift and still a curse later on. According to the actress who went by the name Shish in the program, she fought hard to re-brand herself after ditching the show.

“It was hard because I played the role of Shish for so long, people began to believe that was the only role I could play, that I could only play the bad girl role and nothing else.” she said in an interview with Nairobi. 

“It reached a point that i stopped going for some auditions, but thankfully i was able to get a role in international films that were being shot in Kenya at the time because they were not familiar with my role as shish. It took a lot of work but finally, people in the industry began to see that i was a versatile actor.”

Her first role

Wangari also narrated how she, together with Melody Mercy, Jolene and Sarah Hassan landed their first acting roles in the program.

“I got the role straight out of Mary Hill Girls High School. I loved the experience, I not only got a platform where I could grow as an actress, but it also gave me a great platform to build my brand. I also got to make lots of friends and networks in the industry.”