The Kenyan film industry over the years has been losing some of its best and most talented stars.
Kenya is among the countries with the best thespians - both locally and internationally and this is well-acknowledged by many.
However, there has been a decline in appearances on camera from some of our favorite local stars prompting us to put together this list.
Where did our favorite and adored stars disappear to? , What are they up to now?
How's life for them off the limelight?
Below are the former stars we miss seeing on our screens:
1. DENNIS MUGO (OJ)
Image: Instagram
Dennis Mugo, better known as OJ for his former role in the Kenyan teen drama Tahidi High has been away from the public eye for some time now.
Besides, acting he was part of the Tahidi High technical team and an assistant director in the popular TV drama show.
Dennis lost his character as the comic bad boy in the show after he fell into alcohol addiction.
His addiction worsened and was unable to balance work and his social life leading to his alleged dismissal from the show.
However, he later cleared the air saying he left due to creative differences with the director.
In November 2022 the star shared that he was celebrating two months of sobriety after struggling to quit alcohol for years.
OJ currently lives with his son in Embu where he runs different businesses, he also works for the Embu government in the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports, specifically in the Talent Academy.
2. FARIDA MUHINDI (ANGIE)
Farida Muhindi is well known for her former character in Mother-in-law as Angie.
She is a talented vocalist, has been featured in other theatre plays like Backlash, and has also featured in radio productions.
Angie left the screen to join the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) as a prosecutor.
She was among the 48 officer recruits who had newly graduated after three months of mandatory induction training at the Prosecution Training Institute.
She is an advocate for the High Court.
3. ANGEL WARUIGE (MISS MORGAN)
Image: Instagram
Angel Waruige famously known for her role as Miss Morgan, in a Kenyan teen drama (Tahidi High) has been off the public eye for some time now.
After the show Angel fell into depression which led her to embrace alcoholism, and she opened up about the struggles she went through.
She disclosed she wasn't sure why she fell into depression but she felt most celebrities in the showbiz fall into depression because most of them are not ready for fame.
She added that when you become famous you end up living life as per expectations of the society while still trying to be yourself.
The struggle of separating her celebrity life from her personal life extremely affected her.
Angel is on her way back to the top, now exhibiting her talent on the critically acclaimed Showmax TV series Kina.
4. SHIRLEEN WANGARI
4. SHIRLEEN WANGARI
Shirleen is an ex-Tahidi high actress who thrived in the role as OJ's naughty girlfriend Shish.
She is also known for other series like MTV Shuga, the American series Sense8, and First Grader.
After the Tahidi High show Shirleen struggled to get a new role as people believed she could only play the bad girl character.
She thankfully got a role in international films being shot in Kenya as they were not familiar with the 'Shish' role.
In 2020 Shirleen landed a job in South Africa where she was set to produce the movie 'Guatha' (Go Away).
She also established her own film company, Blackwell, which is focused on telling African stories.
5. IAN NENE (ALMASI)
Image: Instagram
Ian is famously known for his character as Almasi in the local TV show Machachari.
The children’s show ‘Machachari’, which revolved around the lives of a group of children and aired on Citizen TV, came to an end in October 2019 after a 13-year run.
Nene left the show in 2019.
Ian relocated to the UK for studies and graduated with a degree in civil engineering.
Being raised a Christian Nene changed his religion to Hinduism after acknowledging his mum was battling breast cancer, he also abused marijuana more as he fell into depression.
Ian recently opened up about growing up in a toxic environment saying he didn't have a good example of men growing up, in an interview on the Man Talk Podcast.
His biological father left when he was born and his step-father was abusive.
Almasi has opened up about his life in a monastery sharing his spiritual journey as a monk.
