Joyce Kiala was born in 1999 and spent most of her childhood and school life in Machakos. After she finished high school, she saw a casting call on social media and decided to respond to it together with her friend. She was invited for the audition but once there, became overwhelmed by fear and let her friend go ahead of her. Kiala later mustered up the courage to audition and landed the role of Hope Mwakazi on the much-loved telenovela series Kina.

In real life, Kiala is the firstborn in her family though on Kina, she is the youngest daughter of the Mwakazi’s, a middle-class family that lives in the township of Misri. She was a surprise child and is doted on by everyone in her family, especially her older sister Bella. She loves her character because it has taught her a lot about herself and work ethics.

The most enjoyable moments for Kiala is when she argues with her elder brother Jonah (Leftie) especially when he thinks that he is right, and she is wrong. She enjoys making jokes about him though she respects him. She loves seeing everyone around her happy and dislikes arguments.

Her mantra is: “Optimism is the most important human trait because it allows us to evolve our ideas, to improve our situation, and to hope for a better tomorrow.”

Catch Kiala play Hope on Kina every Monday to Friday at 8 pm only on DStv 163 or stream it on Showmax.