The resting state of Ama Qamata is “pulled together”— a kind of default setting for her life and the overriding impression I get from our joyful coffee and cake interlude at Father Coffee in Kramerville.
The actress, whose breakout role in Blood & Water on Netflix cut short her time at drama school in Cape Town, has signed on as the face of sub-Saharan Africa for L’Oréal Paris and just returned from Paris Fashion Week.
The pulled-togetherness manifests in a regal vibe that explains how at nine she scored her first big break as Snow White. “I’ve always known this is my career path, what I wanted to do with my life. So it’s interesting and quite powerful that even at a young age I embraced it. I went to a predominantly white school and it was quite controversial because a lot of kids, probably out of jealousy, were like, ‘Oh, how can you cast a black girl as Snow White, you should call it Snow Black.’”
She credits a teacher for the confidence to look past it. “I didn’t care. I got the lead role .... I was lucky that I had a drama teacher, Mr Simpson, who really believed in me, and would give me these opportunities, not only to act, but to direct, to choreograph .... He gave me space to create and be creative.”
Encouraged by her mother to embrace the Netflix role, she said: “It was a risk, because ... either you’re going to continue with your studies or shoot this thing, which is only for four months, and then what are you going to do? We obviously did not know it was going to become the longest-running African series on Netflix.”
Was it a big adjustment? “I did my first professional gig at 17 on a show on SABC called My Perfect Family. So I was kind of familiar with the environment and how everything works, but obviously not at that scale because I was a lead and often would have to work as much as the crew.
“I’m also just someone who can push myself. I really work well under pressure, and love what I do. So I don’t mind going the extra mile. And then, my life changed after Blood & Water — the world watching the show from Africa. I had people from Brazil, France, America reaching out and telling me how much they love the show."
How did she cope with the fame? “I don’t think anything could have prepared me. But looking back, I was 21 when that happened. I’m 27 now. I was so naive, really didn’t understand how everything worked, how to navigate the fame.
“I feel like a lot of people get thrown into this world and are not prepared, don’t really have a plan of what they want to do. But since I started acting I’ve always known I wanted longevity .... It’s easier to align yourself in your life and career when you know what you want, so you’re not overwhelmed.”
The L’Oréal Paris ambassadorship is a huge feather in her cap. “L’Oréal was quite a beautiful partnership, because it wasn’t just about ‘We want you to be the face of this brand,’ but ‘We really care about your values and how you show up in the world, and we think that you’re a great example for a lot of young South African women.’ One of things they really highlighted was self-worth, confidence, and as a woman I know how hard that is. I feel like often the perception about people in public life or celebrities is that, it’s glamorous and all of that, but it’s actually a lot of hard work, a lot of criticism and self-doubt. So I think when L’Oréal approached me, it was kind of an affirming moment.
The principles my mom taught me — respect, humility and gratitude will take you far in life. I’ve always tried to carry and sustain that.
— Ama Qamata
“I think it’s my principles. I speak about that in my campaign video, the principles my mom taught me — respect, humility and gratitude will take you far in life. I’ve always tried to carry and sustain that in my life ... be grateful for every opportunity. So I think that’s helped me, like, just be grounded.”
Her next personal growth challenge led to producing. “I produced my first film Fight Like a Girl two years ago. We shot that in Goma [Democratic Republic of the Congo], which is quite an experience, because it was based on a true story.
“I feel a lot of times in the pursuit of trying to tell African stories, we want to glamorise the real pain and trauma we go through as a continent, and I think that this story was so powerful — it’s about these girls in Goma who faced horrific challenges in their life, and they’re quite young. They use boxing as a method to take out that frustration and find strength.
“One of the girls, the girl that I played, got married recently and went on to become a champion.
“The director wanted to shoot the movie as real as possible, so we went to the locations where a lot of the stuff took place. We got chased by rebels one night because a lot of our crew were Rwandese. That was very dangerous. But in hindsight it was a great experience. It definitely changed me.”
