How married Lenana Kariba prepares to film intimate scenes
Kenyan actor Lenana Kariba is on Single Kiasi season three and has revealed that he and his wife go through his scripts together.
Lenana plays Nick, a local celebrity who arrives in Rebecca’s (Faith Kibathi) life with an air of mystery and charm before everything goes to ruin.
“It’s great to be back, of course. I’ve had so much fun shooting Season 3 and I feel like we’ve been able to develop the character and show more of Nick than what we got in Season 1,” he said about the show.
Adding “I really wasn’t sure as the way Nick’s story ended in Season 1 was kind of going out with a bang. I’d had a great time shooting that season and I was okay with the possibility of that being it.
But then when I got the call about Season 3, it was a no-brainer for me. I didn’t need to see the script or anything like that to agree as I knew whatever they had planned for Nick would be epic.”
Asked how his wife feels about intimate scenes with other actors on the screen, he said, “My wife and I always go through scripts together before I shoot anything. I’ve said it before: she really is the most understanding person when it comes to my job.
She supports my career 100% in the same way I support hers and she’s all about Nick and the things he does. We definitely watch Single Kiasi together and now it’s our weekly plan again as the new episodes drop.”
So what’s the secret or tip to nurturing good on-screen chemistry with your co-star, especially in romantic settings?
He responded, “There is no secret I can give other than in romantic scenes you just need to be completely vulnerable in front of the camera. The person you’re working with has to do the same in order to make it successful.
Being an actor requires you to be very open to anything a script might throw at you so it’s not for those that are shy or easily embarrassed.“
On how he managed to do intimate scenes with his co-star Rebecca, he said “Honestly, intimate scenes are not even the hardest ones to do. It’s all choreographed by the directors as they have a vision for exactly how they want it to come out.
The actor’s job is just to bring the emotions to make it look real. There is nothing sexy about having three cameras and multiple people watching you act out an intimate scene.”
Kariba is a father of one, he described it as a fantastic thing he always wanted to do “Being a dad is fantastic; it’s something that I always wanted in my life.
Our daughter Ava definitely keeps us on our toes but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Right now I’m still in the easy stages as Ava is only nine months old. Fatherhood has taught me about life; it’s also definitely showed me I can function on less sleep than I thought.”