Atandwa Kani Biography: Age, Family, Education, Career, Relationships, Controversy, Net Worth

South Africa is known to be the home of some prominent artists and Atandwa Kani is an example of such. Some might say, being the son of a legendary actor, John Kani, put pressure on him to become an actor as well. No, that’s not the case. He is a natural whose talent just oozes flawlessly. His acting role cannot be ignored.

View this post on Instagram

Kani is known for his role in various movies including The Suit, Black Panther, and television series like The Book of Negroes, Leonardo, and Life is Wild.

Atandwa Kani Age

Kani’s full name is Atandwa Duduza Yiduthi Kani. He was born on 6th June 1984.

Atandwa Kani Family

Atandwa is the son to John and Mandi Kani. Atandwa doesn’t show his mother that much on social media, but any chance he gets he does show how much he honours her.

View this post on Instagram

However, he does seem to spend a lot of time with his father and is not shy to show him some affection even on his birthday.

View this post on Instagram

Proudly Xhosa

Atanda Kani is one who has proudly shown his culture through his dressing and let’s just say, he’s always spot on. At most times he usually shows off his taste in fashion with his father.

View this post on Instagram

Atandwa Kani Education

Atandwa’s father had such a huge impact on Atandwa’s passion for action. He studied the scripts and used to watch his father and other people act in the theatre, he became passionate about acting and the movie industry in general. He enrolled and completed his high school education in Port Elizabeth before joining the University of Witwatersrand (WITS) for a course in theatre performance.

Atandwa Kani Career

He made his international stage debut in The Tempest at the Royal Shakespeare Company where he played Ariel alongside his father (Caliban) and Sir Anthony Sher (Prospero). In 2009 he made his international television debut in the CW TV Network show Life is Wild, an American adaptation of the popular ITV drama Wild at Heart which aired in the UK from 2006 to 2012.

Atandwa Kani went on to play the young Nelson Mandela in the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom acting alongside Idris Elba who played Mandela with Naomi Harris as Winnie Mandela and Terry Pheto as Evelyn Mase. Kani also worked with Cuba Gooding Jnr on the international BET series, ‘The Book Of Negroes’.

He performed Sizwe Banzi is Dead in New York and did a tour of the play in South Africa between 2015 and 2016. In 2016 he went on to star in a Film adaptation of Can Temba’s book The Suit which won a SAFTA in 2017 for Best Short Film. The Film was part of the 19th Zanzibar International Film Festival and the Urban World Film Festival in New York.

Atandwa Kani TV Roles

Atandwa Kaani has appeared in so many movies and films including the following:

Heartlines (season 1) as Biko
Nokwe Ashes to Ashes (Season 2) as Buzwe Sihlahla
90 Plein Street (Season 3) as Jabu Mncube
The Book of Negroes (Season 1) as New York Jail Guard
Muvhango (Season 1) as Dr. Mongezi Zwane
Life is Wild (Season 1) as Tumelo
Kowethu (Season 1) as Sibu Mahlangu
It’s Complicated (Season 1 and 2) as Vumani
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom as Nelson Mandela
Black Panther
Love By Chance

View this post on Instagram

His biggest acting role came on Black Panther where he played young King T’ Chaka.

View this post on Instagram

Atandwa Kani Relationships

Atandwa was in a relationship with Thembisa Mdoda. The two got married in 2012, but sadly in 2015 they called it quits and got a divorce. At the time they got married it seems the couple was still young and not ready for that life as explained by Thembisa during an interview with Scoop Makhathini.

The young actor then met Fikile on the set of It’s Complicated and got married in 2015. The couple was known for loving out loud on social media where they would post pics together.

View this post on Instagram

However, late last year things didn’t go down so well for the couple. A source told Daily Sun that the couple, which spends its time in New York and Johannesburg, is finding it difficult to make time for the relationship due to busy schedules. However, the decision to split was amicable.

Atandwa Kani Controversy

In 2014, when he was still in a relationship with Thembisa Mdoda, rumours surfaced that Thembisa had been unfaithful. He did all he could in power to protect his then family and the family name. He was later on accused of domestic violence and Thembisa restricted him from seeing the two boys.

Seeking legal assistance, in 2015 Thembisa agreed to do a paternity test to determine whether the two children were actually his. The test then revealed the dangerous truth that Atandwa was not the father to the twins.

Due to a lot of inconsistencies that were taking place in the relationship, Atandwa decided to end things with Thembisa and move on.