Zethu Dlomo’s character Madi has become one of the central characters in Black Sails’ fourth and final season on Starz.
But who is Zethu, and what’s her backstory?
The 27-year-old was born in South Africa and first made it big when she landed a starring role in South African romantic comedy movie Fanie Fourie’s Lobola in 2013 while straight out of film school.
Zethu played Dinky, a Zulu woman who falls in love with an Afrikaans man and must overcome the cultural issues stemming from their different backgrounds.
Zethu then moved into TV playing ambitious young detective Alice Kunene in South African occult sci-fi police drama Room 9. Although the show didn’t make a big splash across the Atlantic it nonetheless became a cult hit with fans proving that Zethu was a serious up-and-coming talent.
Zethu then moved to L.A. and got her first break in US TV as Patience in moving and important TV movie Mary and Martha, based on the true story of two women’s fight to raise awareness of the blight of malaria across the world.
In 2016 Zethu played Winnie Mandela in political thriller Mandela’s Gun, charting the events of Nelson Mandela’s life running up to his imprisonment in 1962.
The film mixes dramatic re-enactment and documentary interviews with Mandela’s real-life associates.
A self-confessed born-again Christian and activist, Zethu uses her Instagram account to share a mix of spiritual quotes and promo pics from her most recent acting roles.
Zethu also has experience of treading the boards — appearing in theater productions of The Hill, You Fool, How can the Sky Fall, Yerm, and Anowa.
Zethu’s Black Sails role of Madi sees her as the daughter of the Maroon King and Queen, who forms an alliance with Silver. As a love interest for Silver, Madi becomes increasingly important to the pirates.
Dlomo’s next screen outing sees her make a return to South African movies with Five Fingers for Marseille, a western inspired story about crime and corruption in a South African shanty town.