Meet Nassor Said the 11-year-old Kenyan actor set to star in a Sh 2bn Italian movie

An 11-year-old boy from Mamburui village in Magarini constituency, Kilifi county, is set for stardom after he was selected as the main supporting actor in an Italian big-budget movie that will cost nearly Sh2 billion.

Nassor Said is a standard four pupil at Mamburui Primary School and from a poverty-stricken family. His raw talent has earned him a spot in a movie with a budget of €16 million (Sh1.8 billion).

He is currently in Morocco, shooting the second part of the movie called ‘Tolo Tolo’ after completing a one-month shooting schedule in the tourism resort town of Malindi. The movie is being produced by a prominent Italian film production company, Taodue, and is expected to put Malindi and Kilifi county in particular in the limelight as a tourism hub, and to open up more opportunities in the film industry.

Said was picked by the movie director, a prominent Italian actor called Checco Zalone, during a scouting mission at Mamburui village in December last year.

On the material day, Said was playing with other children when Zalone, executive producer of the movie in Kenya Antonio De Feo, and location manager Kassim Ahmed Omar spotted him.

That is when Zalome said the boy was the right person he wanted for the movie, which was shot for the whole month of February and early March.Said was among a cast of about 130 artistes and crew drawn from Italy (70) and  Kenya (60).

Details, including pictures of main actors and some of the scenes, are not allowed to be made public until the film is out.But reports from the Internet have revealed that the movie ‘Tolo Tolo’ is a comic drama film starring the famous Italian actor Zalone.

The Italian film bigwig plays the role of a Neapolitan comedian who, threatened by his criminal underworld boss, flies to Malindi.

According to internet sources, Checco will be joined by a carabiniere (a paramilitary person), who becomes his friend and companion on every journey.

Journalists managed to catch up with the executive director De Feo in mid-March, along with the location manager, at Karen Blixen restaurant.

He revealed that the ‘Tolo Tolo’ title of the movie was derived from a statement made by the “young movie star” while swimming at River Sabaki.

“The Italian movie star said everyone must dive solo solo, an Italian word that means alone, but the boy shouted ‘Tolo Tolo’, and that is how the title was developed,” he said.