Francis Ouma on Method Acting and His Scene-Stealing Role in ‘Volume’

Anyone who has watched Volume, Tosh Gitonga’s musical drama series that premiered on Netflix in December, will agree that Francis Ouma or Faiz as he is more popularly known, gave a sparklingly multi-layered, scene-stealing performance as the immutable thug Castro, the lead character’s (Benja) best friend. Played by Brian Kabugi, Benja is a rapper trying to make it in the music game, and Ouma’s Castro, acting as his manager, uses his street smarts to land him shows, deals, and connections with influencers, like the innocent yet sultry Ivy (Stephanie Muchiri).

This big break arrives in his fourth year in the industry; nothing happens overnight here. He graduated high school, as some people would say, just the other day, in 2015. From 2017 through 2018, he performed in theatrical productions for high school set books. “Theatre is my home. It’s where I started,” he says. His first opportunity on screen came when Nick Mutuma hosted a show, aptly called The Next Superstar, for StarTimes. Ouma placed third, earning himself a spot on Mutuma’s romcom Sincerely Daisy, the first Kenyan film to premiere on Netflix. His Sincerely Daisy co-star, Ellah Maina, nabbed the number one spot in the competition.

Ouma has also featured in Maisha Magic East’s telenovela Kina. For an actor as youthful as he is, he is quite accomplished. My first encounter with him was, in his own words, within his element – in theatre. It was during the staging of Stuart Nash’s Betrayal In The City in 2023 where Ouma played the leading man, Jusper. I went to the show expecting a modest production, which was largely what we got, though the one performance that stood out to me, brushing aside even the legends he shared the stage with, was that of this young man. 

“Betrayal in The City was a big one for me because I was sharing a stage with some of the biggest and most talented guys in our industry like Bilal Mwaura, Raymond Ofula, Wakio Mzenge, so it was a little nerve-wracking,” Ouma tells me. As we could all imagine, he held his own with those veterans and commanded a space of his own on that stage. 

Ouma is one of the most interesting Kenyan actors I’ve ever spoken to. For one, he’s completely method with it. “I prefer method acting, especially for the more challenging roles, because then, I’m sure I will knock it out.” He’s very confident in this discipline, setting himself apart from many actors his age, even those older than him. He used this method approach with Jusper in Betrayal in The City and with Castro in Volume, a character he describes as completely antithetical to himself. 

“For Jusper, I was walking around in his wardrobe for a week before the show,” he says. “You know, that big long trench coat he had on?” I remember it vividly because Jusper wore that get-up the entire show. “Yeah, that was me for the whole week. I went with it everywhere – the neighbourhood, in town, everywhere.” 

He took a similar approach to playing Castro since he’s not really that outgoing of a guy, he says. It’s an admission that, after seeing his performance as that scoundrel, is amazing to me, “I had to go out there and party a lot. I had to get into the guy’s head. Method acting isn’t a vain indulgent approach to work; it helps one really get into the character’s psychology,” Ouma says. I’ve heard from many actors that acting is all about aligning your thought process with that of your character. To think like them and to act as if their thoughts, their words, are stuff you’re coming up with on the fly, essentially to become the character on the spot. I’ve heard this from actors who don’t indulge in method acting. I don’t advocate for or rebuke method acting, but when Ouma talks about why he does it, it makes perfect sense. It’s not Jared Leto sending dildos to co-stars for news-item publicity, it’s about psychology. Selective in its insanity. 

And Castro did take him to insane places he never thought he could go. “I don’t know whether I should be saying this, but to prepare for Castro, I even started selling drugs,” he reveals. “I went to Westlands and got hooked up with some clients. I still have some of their numbers.”

Method acting can be quite dangerous if practised with one’s care completely to the wind. Many people see it as frivolous and highly artistic, wherein the lack of control is the point. But on the contrary, if not handled professionally, it could cause severe psychiatric damage. People often wonder whether Heath Ledger would be here today if it weren’t for The Dark Knight, but that’s neither here nor there. 

In Ouma’s case, Volume’s production offered him the services of a therapist to help him de-role off Castro. “So, a therapist helps you get back to who you are. Some of these roles are very heavy and can mess with your psyche, like Jusper, for one,” Ouma says. “The therapist makes you retrace who you are, then go back into the character so that you can identify the difference and separate from there.”

Ouma is sure to be found in theatre when he’s not in front of a camera. He works with Millaz Production Kenya, a theatre company based in Nairobi. He also has a certificate in film production and knows his way around a few technical skills required behind the camera, as well as his natural talent in front of it. He is undoubtedly one of the most promising young actors in Kenya today. I’d kill to see him given a lead role in a Kenyan film or TV series, just so more people can experience the energy he exuded on stage as Jusper. I very much believe him to be a possible solution to our glaring ‘leading man problem’ where the supporting actors, normally villains or antagonists, tend to overshadow the lead actors, as is the case with Volume, and with Click Click Bang where Nyakundi Isaboke’s performance shines above its lead, and even in Pepeta where Dedan Juma is a force.