There is a story about a man who did not give up on his dream. In the First Grader, Oliver Litondo starred as Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge, an ex Mau Mau freedom fighter, who dreamt of completing his basic education, and goes back to school. Maruge passed on on August 14th 2009, but the movie First Grader, continued to tell his story, even after his demise. Oliver Litondo, a journalist by profession, took over the lead role, after the director of the film rejected Hollywood star Morgan Freeman, among other top actors. Litondo says how he did it:
“Producers and the directors went around the world to find a character or somebody that would play Maruge. The likes of Morgan Freeman, whom they had auditioned and they had rejected him. The director told me he went to the diaspora, some of the Africans in London for example, Nigeria and Europe… went to South Africa… but he did not see the person who he thought would portray Maruge.”
In the end, the director saw Oliver Litondo as being fit to play the role, and the rest is history… Here is the interview in full for you to enjoy
Source:ghafla.co.ke
