MANDELA MATHIA

Mandela was born in South Sudan and spent the majority of his childhood years in the north of the country and in Egypt, due to the civil war in Sudan. He arrived in Australia in 2008.

Since graduating from NIDA he has appeared in Sami in Paradise, The Cherry Orchard (Belvoir); The Rolling Stone (Outhouse Theatre Company); Prize Fighter (National Tour with La Boite); Othello, Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Nights (Sport for Jove); Macbeth (Sport for Jove) and played Hamlet in Sydney Foreign Actors Association in the production of HEMLET.

Mandela has shown interest in not only performing on stage, but also playwriting. He co-wrote a short film with emerging successful filmmakers out in the industry, and has starred in some of these films, such as ‘I Am Emmanuel’ and ‘Kill off’. Mandela has starred in All These Creatures short film that won a prestigious awards the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival and the 2018 AACTA Award. With the film All These Creatures’ success, Mandela has been nominated for best leading role of Mel in the Reel-good Film Festival early in 2019. In 2022, Mandela made his debut on Australian TV on the show The Twelve, starring alongside one of Australian most acclaimed actors Sam Neil.

Mandela was nominated for best supporting role in 2018 for the play The Rolling Stone. By the following year, he was nominated for best leading role of Mel in the Reel-good Film Festival early in 2019 for All These Creatures short film.