Country Queen's Melissa Kiplagat reveals fear she had acting on the show

Melissa has been in the industry for close to a decade

• Melissa almost quit since she felt there was no growth.

• She even started applying for other jobs.

Melissa-Kiplagat-is-Akisa-in-Country-Queen-696x421
country queen Melissa-Kiplagat-is-Akisa-in-Country-Queen-696x421

Country Queen lead actress Melissa Kiplagat says she almost quit acting during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking in a recent interview with Buzz Central, Melissa said she felt that she had nothing to show yet she had been in the industry for close to a decade.

"I was at a point in life where I was asking myself whether I wanted to stay in this industry or not. Because I was like, I am almost turning 30, I’ve been in this industry since 2013. What do I have to show for it?" she said.

Melissa added that she compared herself to her former schoolmates who had cars and great jobs. She started applying for other jobs.

"They have cars, they have great jobs, they have investments. I was just like what is my bank account telling me right now. I was at a point where I was contemplating whether I wanted to stay or not. So when I got pregnant, I was okay, I can move on now."

Things changed when she received a call that the show was picked by Netflix. She was expectant and she thought she would be replaced.

She plays Akisa, a woman from a sleepy village who now leads a comfortable but complicated life in the city.

"When I got pregnant, we didn’t have confirmation that Country Queen was coming back. We found out it was coming back towards the end of 2020 and I was a few months pregnant at that point. I thought they were going to replace me.   

The only reason I decided to come back and do the show when they told me they were not reshooting the first episode and I was like, I don’t want to mess everyone by making them have to find the budget for the first episode, which means everyone is paid less. I was like if they were willing to wait for me to give birth then I will do it.”

Melissa said she had a lot of pressure to lose weight for her role Akisa praising her producers for supporting her weight-loss journey.

"There’s no time gap between episode one and two. The producers were super supportive but it was definitely overwhelming because I thought the way I always hear about people giving birth and in one week they lost 10 pounds.

I was expecting that and I even told my producers I’ll even be underweight. But it didn’t happen, every pound that I lost I had to work for it."

Set in contemporary Kenya, Country Queen is a family drama series that tells the story of ordinary Kenyans fighting against a corporate power that threatens to destroy their homes and lives.

The series focuses on the issues of land grabbing and exploitation, and how these factors impact the lives and relationships of the main characters, their families and communities.

Country Queen was filmed in Nairobi, Machakos County and Murang’a County.

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