Veteran Kenyan actor Jimmi Gathu has taken on one of the toughest roles of his long career. In the hit drama series Chocolate Empire, he plays JB Mauzo—a former business tycoon recently released from prison.
In an interview, Gathu revealed that this role was deeply emotional and very demanding. JB Mauzo is not just any character. He is a man with a dark past trying to find his way back into society. Gathu said he spoke to real ex-convicts to understand what it feels like to start over.
The actor also watched mafia films like Gotti to get a sense of how people in risky businesses think and behave. In the series, JB Mauzo runs an adult escort business—something Gathu found both intense and difficult to portray.
He admitted he had to recall some painful moments in his own life to bring JB’s emotions to life. “I’ve made risky choices before, but I always thought of my family first,” Gathu shared.
Gathu praised his directors, Philippe Bresson and Grace Kahaki, for helping him dig deep into emotions he had never shown on screen before. He described the process as tiring but rewarding.
“Chocolate Empire is special,” he said. “It combines everything I’ve learned in acting over the years.”
Despite the dark role, Gathu said he is naturally a cheerful person. But becoming JB Mauzo meant stepping into a very different world.
He also shared a tough lesson from real life—when he lost his job, a friend humiliated him for asking for help. That moment, he said, helped him connect even more with his character’s struggle for acceptance. This is Jimmi Gathu like you’ve never seen him before.
By Newshub