By Prudence Minayo
Every “Maria” drama series fan knows of Lona, the busy body house maid in the show. The scheming character hates the main character, Maria, and is always trying to sabotage her. This has made a lot of fans hate her to the extent that some think this is her character in real life. Social media users have inboxed to tell her how evil she is. Her acting skills are top notch and she aced this role like the pro that she is. Away from the camera, she’s a great Christian lady that loves to inspire people, especially the youth and never studied film and theatre but acting is just an ingrained talent. Through her social media pages, she comes off as a simply dressed but elegant lady who can always be spotted with this huge gorgeous smile.
Real Name
Her real name is Tina Wamwati Njambi.
Age
The actress is forty years old.
Family
Tina has never been married but is a mother of 2. The two are not her biological children but were her late sister’s children. She has raised them like her own since they were young. Although grown up, she still refers to them as kids.
Career
Apart from being a talented actor, Njambi is an entrepreneur and has successfully managed to start and run her own successful business.
Bakes and Packaging, her company, deals in supplying baking ingredients for companies and hotels. She also has an Ankara business side hustle.
Acting role
Unlike some Maria actors, who are doing it for the first time, Tina has acted in a film before. She acted in Wash and Fate as the lead character. She was known as Jacky in the film. In 2016, she went out of the acting scene to concentrate on her business.
How she landed the Maria role
After a while she kept asking God to restore her career before the big breakthrough. In 2018, a pastor preached that people should move out of their comfort zone and this prompted Njambi to action. She went to countless TV show auditions to no avail
Her hardwork paid off and her prayers were answered when she auditioned for Maria. She tried for the Madam Vicky role but appeared too young to play it, hence, she was chosen for Lola.
This was a dream come true even if Lona is a character far removed from her real self. She had to watch a lot of videos about people that have acted the same role and began to nail the role right from the beginning.
In an interview with Kenyans.co.ke, just like other Maria cast members, she expressed her gratitude to Lulu Hassan and Rashid Abdalla.
“ They are my mentors by force. I am learning from them as they build a film empire. Their work ethic is so honest and admirable. I look up to them, honor them and thank them for such an opportunity and for also getting mentorship for free they are giants in this industry and I am blessed to be under them. At work, they are also concerned about everyone. I wonder how they manage to care for all of us,” said Tina Njambi concerning the power couple.
The talented star also said the actors are very nice to each other. They clicked from the first time and always supported and encouraged each other.
