Charmaine Bingwa’s luminous smile hides a wealth of creative genius. She is one of those women whose friendly gaze and warm ways quickly puts you at ease. I met her on a hot sweltering summer day as we got into swing for our photoshoot and interview for Cachet Digital. We chatted for a bit at a local beach side restaurant and I was struck by her humility and easy going spirit. As we headed out for the shoot, I began to quickly see why Bingwa is one to watch. She was efficient and easy to work with. I imagine that translates well within her life as creative both behind and in front of the camera.
Right now, Bingwa’s web series Little Sista is heating up. It is available on Revry network. Not only is she the star of the series—it was also written, produced, and directed by her and is making quite the splash on the festival circuit.
The series has already earned selections in the Web Series Festival Global, Hollywood, Out Fest LA, Sicily Web Fest, Roma Cinema DOC, and Melbourne Web Fest.
Bingwa has had the chance to hone her acting skills in the theatre world and is just well rounded on so many levels. She has Sydney Theatre Awards and Broadway World nominations for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Ms. Muller in Doubt: A Parable and shows no sign of slowing down in terms of success. This year she was also awared the MEAA 2018 Equity Atlantic Scholarship, the Australian Film and TV Union’s (MEAA) highest honor.
In today’s entertainment industry women are flexing their muscles and showing the world that they do not have to be pigeon holed into one type of role or job description. Charmaine is an example of the burgeoning group of women that are extremely artistic across different mediums. In addition to her writing and acting; she is musically and vocally talented. Bingwa sings and plays the guitar. She has performed with many popular artists including Demi Lovato, Fifth Harmony, and Rachel Platten on their Australian tours. We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to interview her and get to know a bit more about the person behind the artist.
Check out her exclusive interview below:
Tell us a bit about your background
Both my parents are Zimbabwean, I was born in Australia and grew up on Koolan Island, a small island of the cost of Western Australia. So, it was a pretty diverse background with lots of influences. That’s something I treasure now. There was always lots of music and my family were always pretty upbeat people.
How has your upbringing played a part of making you who you are?
It’s everything. I’m so glad for it though, it hasn’t always been easy, but that is what has made me into the tenacious, determined, resilient, unshakeable person I am today.
What would be the ideal collaboration for you and who within the industry would it involve?
It would be a dream to work with Steve McQueen. I would also like to star in a feature that I have written.
What are you currently reading?
August Wilson’s – Pittsburgh Cycle
What are you currently watching?
Killing Eve
How would you describe your personal style?
Eclectic, brave and street.
What are your upcoming projects?
I’m working on a brilliant LGBTI short called Cairos written by Zach Paul Brown, that has already won Best Screenplay awards. I’m excited to be playing the role of Lee and to be part of something I think will be spectacular.
There is most likely going to be a Season 2 of Little Sista, and there are a few other writing projects I’m finishing up too.
Where do you see your brand going in the next few years?
Definitely to be more visible internationally.
What shows are you planning on watching this upcoming season?
I’m a bit behind but I want to watch Barry and I need to catch up on Atlanta as well.
What songs or artists are on your current playlist?
Lil Yatchy, Alessia Cara and the rest of my music is usually picked based on what characters I need to play.
Do you have any causes that you have become recently involved with or are invested in? (feel free to elaborate here if there is a favorite charity you have or initiative that you support?)
I’m super passionate about children’s welfare, hence the themes of Little Sista and I’m also involved with Australian Childhood Foundation.
Tell us more about your role in Little Sista and about the writing process involved? How was the experience on set with the cast? What did you do for preparation? What is a favorite moment from the experience? What were some of the challenges? What was your reaction upon winning awards?
Little Sista has been such a gift to me. It really showed me all aspects of filmmaking. When telling a story of how I mentored someone in the Big Brother, Big Sister program, I started writing it. It came out so organically, I finished the whole series in a week. Our shoot schedule was tight so it was lucky I had a great team who could come in and nail it. There was a lot of pre-production work with locations, scheduling etc. We ended up with 35 actors, 35 extras and 17 crew members, so it was huge and hard to juggle, but it came together quite nicely. And it was so beautiful to get recognition in the form of awards after all that hard work.
What was a memorable moment in your career?
It would be performing in the play Doubt: A Parable. The role came about serendipitously and has been one of my favorite to date as it was so challenging in its demand for depth, truth and emotional access.
I was lucky enough to be honored with Sydney Theatre and BroadwayWorld Award nominations for my performance in it. It was one of my earlier experiences acting, so I was grateful to learn amazing ways of working from the award-winning actors I was surrounded with.
It was also a real ‘pinch myself’ moment when I got to meet and work with John Patrick Shanley, the Pulitzer Prize winning writer who wrote it.
How do you balance everything?
Hahaha – I don’t balance everything. But I just try to be very present in whatever I’m doing and make sure I reward myself along the way. I work super hard but I always try to schedule a day here and there to do absolutely nothing and turn my phone off.
Tell us a bit more about your experience as a theatre actress:
I LOVE the theatre. It’s a great play to learn your skills as an actress too. I love that you get to work on characters for a long period of time, I love how it hones your skill and you learn something new every night. Last year I was in 5 productions and performed 79 times, it was masterclass and such an incredible experience.
Talk to us about your role in The Pitch:
Yes! I had a ball filming this feature. The Pitch is about a slippery Sydney film producer who discovers he needs to attach a movie star to his impending studio pitch, so he coerces his estranged father into a cross country road trip to find an elusive actor. I play Summer Akers a crazy yoga teacher he comes across, who is a little too devoted to her guru…and not entirely helpful to him on his quest.
How has singing and music played out in your entertainment career:
I just adore it. Singing makes me feel physically amazing and connected to the greater world. Singing and music lead me to acting. When I was studying music, I took acting as an elective and instantly fell in love with it,
How did you hone your music and singing skills?
I started playing guitar when I was 12 years old. All I remember is picking it up and basically never putting down. Soon after that I started writing songs and began singing. But basically, there is no substitute for the putting in time.
Make sure you watch Little Sista on Revry:https://revry.tv/channel/little-sista/
You can keep up with every thing Charmaine Bingwa via her instagram: @charmainebingwa
