Filming a scene in ‘The Truth About Stanley’, which stars Oliver Litondo and is set in London.
Who would have thought that after five decades of a career in television and cinema, a retired veteran Kenyan actor would bounce back into the limelight and earn the respect of some of the world’s most powerful people in show business.
For the last two months, Oliver Litondo has spent time on Hollywood’s star-studded red carpet winning accolades at top award ceremonies, alongside the world’s biggest film stars.
The success of the movie The First Grader has been down to Litondo’s portrayal of Kimani Maruge, the 84-year-old man who enrolled in a primary school after the introduction of free primary education in 2003.
Unanimous
Last month, he was named Best Actor at the prestigious 11th Annual AARP Movies for Grown Ups awards where the organisers of the event revealed that the choice of Litondo for the award was as close to unanimous as there had been in years.
He was one of four nominees on the night to receive the biggest cheer from guests comprising the film industry’s biggest actors, directors and producers.
“To sit next to, and to get a standing ovation alongside Meryl Streep, Martin Scorsese and Sharon Stone really blew me away,” says an elated Litondo.
The citation for his Best Actor Award was apt: “From his tentative first moments at his small desk to his haunted eyes as he recalls his family’s murder, Litondo’s Maruge is a man who won’t give up on life, even when it has seemingly given up on him.”
He clinched the award beating Hollywood “A list” actors like George Clooney in “The Descendants” and Mel Gibson in “The Beaver” at the ceremony held in Beverly Hills, California.
Nominated
During the same month, the 63-year-old Litondo was also nominated alongside heavyweights like Laurence Fishburne, Eddie Murphy and Van Diesel and eventual winner Laz Alonso for the award of Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.
This was at the 43rd National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Awards where The First Grader itself was nominated in the Outstanding Motion Picture and Independent Motion Picture categories.
The annual event is recognised as the pre-eminent multi-cultural awards show from an African-American perspective and is broadcast on primetime network television in the U.S.
The only other Kenyan to have ever appeared at these awards was the late Wangari Maathai when she shared the Chairman’s Award along with former US vice president Al Gore in 2009 for their contribution to environmental conservation.
Even as he comes to terms with his success in “The First Grader”, Litondo will be the centre of attraction once more when a short film called The Truth About Stanley premiers in the UK next Monday.
The film is a drama set in London and tells the story of an unlikely friendship between an old Congolese man and a young runaway boy, living on the streets of the British capital.
The character of Stanley, played by Litondo, possesses a vivid imagination and an insatiable desire to tell stories while his co-star is 10-year-old British actor Raif Clarke.
It is a story of a friendship between two characters living rough on London’s streets with the older man captivating and confusing the young lad with mostly embellished tales about his former life.
“Yes, Litondo got the role of Stanley thanks to his utterly outstanding performance in the First Grader,” says Varya Shaw who is handling the film’s publicity.
The actor, though, says his new role could not have been more different from that of playing the world’s oldest primary school pupil. “Stanley is homeless and desperately poor immigrant.
He is also delusional, but like Maruge, he too has a very high opinion of himself despite the adversity he faces.
He was willing to overlook the shoestring production budget of the film due to the charitable cause of the project.
“We filmed all over London and we, the actors, even had to change into costume wherever we would find some privacy, which was a true reflection of what the homeless endure.”
The film premiers on the April 2, at the Rich Mix Cinema in Shoreditch, London and you can watch it online two days later.
The proceeds from the movie, directed by award winning moviemaker Lucy Tchnerniak, will assist in raiing money for a hostel and life skills centre for homeless adults in East London.
After being hauled from retirement for the role in “The First Grader” three years ago, Litondo is now in such demand that he’s engaged a manager and publicist in Hollywood to manage his rejuvenated career.
He is currently looking at a few scripts and drops a hint that he is likely to be shooting a new film by August this year but will only disclose details once the deal is wrapped up.
“I am now officially out of retirement and will continue to work as long as I can. God has been great.”
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