Farida Kakonde

Farida Kakonde is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo and born in the country's capital of Kinshasa, moving to the United States with her family at the age of 1. As a child, Farida was very outgoing and constantly put on shows for her entire family in their living room. She first caught the acting bug at the age of 8 when she saw a commercial for an open casting call during her Saturday morning cartoons and begged her parents to let her go because she, "must be on TV". From that point on, Farida knew she wanted acting to be a part of her life. Farida cites Adrien Brody's Oscar winning portrayal in "The Pianist" as the moment she realized the power acting can have to emotionally impact others and decided to enroll in the theatre department at San Francisco State University. In 2013, Farida wrote, produced, and starred in the short film, The Waiting Room.