There is something refreshing about hearing someone who has built a successful career admit that rejection, self-doubt and uncertainty do not magically disappear once you have “made it”.

At the National Arts and Culture Awards, I caught up with actress Nambitha Ben-Mazwi, affectionately known as Lady Nam, and our conversation quickly moved beyond the glamour of the red carpet.

Now celebrating a decade in the industry, Nambitha spoke to me about what people do not see behind a successful acting career, breaking into the industry without having studied acting, and the advice she has for the next generation of storytellers.

And if there was one thread running through everything she said, it was persistence.

Ten Years of Success Does Not Mean Ten Years Without Rejection

When we see actors reach a certain level in their careers, it is easy to assume they have somehow graduated from the uncertainty that comes with the industry.

Nambitha says that is far from the reality.

When I asked what part of building her career the public rarely understands, she pointed to everything that happens before we see the final product.

“So much goes into the final product, especially when you’ve built longevity in the career,” she said.

Nambitha is now celebrating ten years in the industry, but longevity has not protected her from hearing no.

“It comes with getting back up after a lot of no’s and rejection,” she explained.

It also comes with refusing to allow those rejections to determine what you believe you are capable of.

For Nambitha, that determination has taken her beyond South Africa. She reflected on recently leading Tatort, which required her to learn Swiss German in a week, and described making history as the first Black woman to lead an episode of the long-running German-language crime franchise.

Her approach when opportunities like that come along is remarkably simple: “I’ll figure it out and use the tools I have.”

And perhaps that is the part of success we do not talk about enough. Sometimes you do not arrive at an opportunity feeling completely ready. Sometimes you decide you are going to figure it out anyway.

Do You Really Need to Know the Right People?

It is one of the biggest questions for anyone trying to enter entertainment: are opportunities actually accessible, or do you still need to know the right people?

So I asked her.

“I believe opportunities are definitely accessible,” Nambitha said.

Her own journey into acting is an interesting example because, unlike what people might assume, acting was not what she studied.

“I’m someone who didn’t study this,” she explained. While she has a theatre background, Nambitha holds a Business Science honours degree and previously worked in corporate.

“I was in corporate, but I had a heart and a hunger for telling stories,” she said.

That hunger eventually became impossible to ignore.

She knew that her passion and purpose would take her far, but she also acknowledged something that can make breaking into the industry complicated: sometimes credibility is attached to your name and who people already know you to be.

“By the book, it’s not necessarily about who you know,” she said.

For anyone looking at the entertainment industry from the outside, I think that distinction matters. Connections may exist, as they do in almost every industry, but Nambitha’s story is proof that there isn’t only one conventional route into the room.

“Follow Your Heart”

I ended by asking Nambitha what advice she would give to aspiring actors and artists who want to tell stories, whether that is in front of the camera, behind it or on a theatre stage.

Her answer was immediate: “Follow your heart.”

Of course, that sounds much easier than it actually is.

“I know that there can be very discouraging words. There can be self-doubt and imposter syndrome,” she said.

That is where, according to Nambitha, knowing why you are doing this becomes important.

“When you have a calling that is burning deep inside of you, because what I believe as storytellers, we are vessels. What we do is very spiritual,” she explained.

And there will be days when that calling is tested.

“There’ll be times where you don’t want to get out of bed and show up,” she said.

Her advice for those moments is to return to your reason for starting.

“That why, that burning desire in your belly, needs to be what you always hold true to.”

And then comes the part no aspiring creative can avoid: doing the work.

“So do the work, don’t get discouraged and show up.”

Maybe That Is What Longevity Really Looks Like

I think we sometimes talk about longevity in entertainment as though it is simply about staying famous for a long time.

But listening to Nambitha speak about her decade in the industry made it sound like something much less glamorous and perhaps much more useful.

It is getting back up after rejection. It is accepting an opportunity that scares you and trusting yourself to figure it out. It is walking away from the path you studied for because another calling refuses to leave you alone. It is dealing with imposter syndrome and still showing up.

Most importantly, it is remembering why you wanted to tell stories in the first place.

Nambitha may have been speaking specifically to aspiring actors and artists when she said it, but it is advice that applies to almost anyone trying to build something that matters to them:

Do the work. Don’t get discouraged. And show up.