Chubby is bae - Edson Mulshid Mugabire

Rising. Edson Mugabire Mulshid is a pharmacy technician who also doubles as an actor. Before the lockdown, he was always part of the cast of Afri-Talent. Today, he has morphed into a screen actor taking on different roles in films and TV series such as What If and Between Us that air on Pearl Magic. Mugabire tells Isaac Ssejjombwe why chubby works for him.

You are an actor, can you take us through your acting journey?

Like most people I started in school with MDD, I later tried my luck at the Mariam Ndagire Film and performing arts centre for an acting mentorship, graduated with a diploma in acting and it is from that mentorship that my foundation was laid. It connected me to different people through which I got hired for different projects I have featured in.

What would you be doing if you were not an actor?

I believe in exhausting all my abilities, but I always wanted to be a doctor. I did a medical course, so maybe I would be just a medical officer. But if it wasn’t that, I think I would be a journalist and later a politician.

How far did you go with the medical course?

I did a diploma in pharmacy.

How long have you been acting?

Close to six years now.

How long did it take you to master your craft?

I haven’t gotten where I want to be, so I can’t say I have mastered, but I can say there is progress. There’s no duration I can give but what I can say is that every single day has been a step into the right direction, every opportunity comes with different challenges which makes it whole new experience. I don’t think one can fully master acting because it evolves with the current need, every role will treat you differently.

Why are you an actor?

Well it’s because I found my purpose in being an actor. Through telling stories, I believe I’m in a position to influence lives of many people positively.

What qualities should a good actor possess?

In my opinion, It all starts with talent, great discipline, passion, hardwork and willingness to learn. Those are key but of course many more factors come into play depending on where you are positioned. 

Are you in any relationship?

Uhhmm… it is complicated

With this career, you seem to be having a lot of admirers. How do you go about this?

Well it goes down to being polite, and of course courteous. We have all been in this position at some point, I usually address them the way I would like to be addressed. With utmost respect.

Have you ever dated an actress?

Must I answer this? Anyway, yes. It’s just like any other relationship, same challenges of dating a workmate at office, bank, market etc. But the biggest challenge though comes with the emotions we have to deal with while at work. Our kind of work deals with emotions and relationships call for the same thing, so while on set, it calls for lots of respect for work for you to keep up with the relationship.

What do you look for in a woman?

I need a human being - a free soul, not one who reads some novel or watched a movie and wants to live a character they saw. Not forgetting, chubby is bae. I love flesh. The other qualities are relative. A sense of humanity and reasonable intellect.

How long do you think people should date before making things official?

What has ruined relationships are the stereotype we carry from one relationship to the next. There is no set time, it could be one month, two, three.. a year,… all you need is to be true to your feelings, and what makes it worse is us thinking once we make things official, we can’t separate. That’s very wrong, love is a feeling that we never invite in most cases, and when it chooses to leave, we can’t stop it.

What is the most precious gift you have ever given a lady?

The most precious gift? My time, I value my time so much and once I give it to you, trust me that’s a Mercedes

Would you date a woman wealthier than you?

Yes, I would date any woman as long as I love them, short, tall, rich, poor. Once my heart feels that thing for you, trust me I’m coming for you.

A second lockdown was announced, how have you been surviving?

Surviving in lockdown hasn’t been easy for many artists, personally I have been privileged by other side of medicine. Right now I wake up and move to work as an essential worker. But as an artist, survival hasn’t been easy at all.

What lessons have you learnt from the pandemic?

It has redefined life in its own way, but the biggest lesson I learnt from Covid-19 was virtual presence.

How sustainable is the film industry?

The industry is promising, it’s not at its best but one thing we can’t rule out is how much it has improved, currently we have so many people doing film as a full time job in different categories as actors, directors, editors, cinematographers etc, I can confidently say it is sustainable to those committed to doing their best tirelessly. I mean that’s what we all got to do across all lines of life…

What challenges have you faced?

There’re so many challenges, but one of the biggest is breaking the custom, very many people don’t believe one can pursue acting/film making as a career here, and this comes with so much discouragement of course from so many people. And on a larger scale we have had so many challenges as an industry, winning the hearts of local audiences to love and believe in what we do, but am glad to say there is much progress.