Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine: Embodying Opposites in Smoke and Dexter: Resurrection

A serial arsonist with a lost soul; an optimistic man that welcomes a serial killer into his family; a deeply personal journey to preserve and celebrate the works of Ugandan photographer Kibaate Aloysius Ssalongo. This is a high point in Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine’s creative career. What’s outstanding is that his magnetizing performances both as Freddy Fasano in the new Apple TV+ crime drama series Smoke and Blessing Kamara in Dexter: Resurrection aired almost in parallel–showcasing the actor’s incredible ability to play such extreme roles back-to-back. Adding the cherry on top this year is his two-decade long documentary Memories of Love Returned that not only cherished the incredible talent of Kibaate and how his photography forever impacted the Ugandan community–it opened up about Mwine’s life and reconnection to his roots.

In Smoke, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine starred opposite Taron Egerton in a restless hunt for a serial arsonist. Freddy Fasano’s hardship with a spark of hope brings the worker at Coop’s Fried Chicken on a depressing journey of constant rejection–something Mwine admitted could never understand. “Sometimes for the actor, it’s about trying to get to the truth, trying to draw from your personal history, but there’s nothing I could possibly fathom that would come close to twentyseven foster homes, from birth to nineteen–what level of trauma that must have entailed.” Mwine then explained that the only way to really get into the psyche of the character was about “letting go of that responsibility and letting my imagination take the lead … It was my compass.”

The Smoke showrunners trusted Mwine with all the episode scripts prior to filming–something the actor calls the “ultimate gift” because had those been given weekly, Freddy’s twistedly tragic story would not have been as impactful. “I [wanted to] just disappear in front of the audience’s eyes,” Mwine revealed, something that was only possible with the immense talent of the hair and makeup department that, through gradual emotional-state styles, paved the way for the actor’s monumental performance: “The way they’ve made me look was transformative. All I had to do was get out of the way, just be a vessel. I don’t have to sell anything. It looked like the weight of the world was on my shoulders, that [Freddy] needed a big hug.” Mwine added, “Then we stripped it all away. I chose to shave my eyebrows. I cut my eyelashes off at a certain point. It’s the little subliminal things that most people won’t notice … I think it was just disturbing to see.”

For the role of Freddy Fasano in Smoke, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine got down to 143 pounds. For his radically different character in Dexter: Resurrection, the actor bulked up 40 pounds–pushing himself as much as possible. The two physically extreme characters made Mwine almost unrecognizable side by side–a testament to the actor’s dedication and versatility. Blessing Kamara is pure light compared to Freddy, a character that was much needed at this point in Dexter’s life. He shared, “I think the writers were really intentional when they brought in a character named Blessing who has a daughter named Joy whose wife is named Constance and whose mother is Prudence. Those are all elements that needed to be in Dexter’s face, so to speak, buoying him.”

In Episode 6, titled Cats and Mouse, Blessing’s world suddenly collapsed as a death in the family revealed the character’s haunting past–in a way inadvertently creating a connection with Dexter. “I think the writers had a lot of fun throwing in a sort of redemption story for Blessing and even a curveball that he had killed someone before. [The audience] was expecting some twist to occur with Blessing, because nothing can be all that great for too long, but I don’t think many people were going to guess that he was a child soldier,” Mwine explained.

Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine’s artistry goes beyond acting, and Memories of Love Returned is arguably the pinnacle of his creativity. His decades-long passion project started out as a journey of discovery of Kibaate’s talent that slowly evolved into a deeper, community-wide reunion through photographic portraits that unveiled long-lost memories. His initial goal was to write a book about the Ugandan photographer, but the project never took flight, until Mwine learned of Kibaate’s passing. Instead of a book, he decided to create a documentary taking what he had recorded during his first meeting with Kibaate back in 2002 and connecting past and present: “In and of itself wasn’t enough to be a film, so I went back to his village, tried to meet people he’d photographed. I met around one hundred people and rephotographed them, then I realized I’m just scratching the surface … I’ve got tens of thousands of negatives! That’s when I decided to mount an exhibit in his village and document that process.”

With Steven Soderbergh joining the project as executive producer, Mwine was able to finally complete Memories of Love Returned: “I’m beyond grateful that the film exists. Soderbergh called it ‘Monumental’, and it’s been winning awards across the globe and still has legs … the little train that could.”

Experience Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine’s outstanding performances in Smoke and Dexter: Resurrection on Apple TV+ and Paramount+.