'Queen of Katwe' actor Nikita Pearl Waligwa dead at 15, Mira Nair mourns


PTI | Los Angeles | Updated: 17-02-2020 18:20 IST | Created: 17-02-2020 18:20 IST
'Queen of Katwe' actor Nikita Pearl Waligwa dead at 15, Mira Nair mourns
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Nikita Pearl Waligwa, who starred in the 2016 sports drama "Queen of Katwe", has died. She was 15. Waligwa had been diagnosed with a brain tumour, Deadline quoted Ugandan media.

Directed by Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair, the Walt Disney film charted the rise of real-life chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi from a Ugandan slum. She began playing chess at the age of nine and went on to compete in international tournaments. Nair on Monday mourned the death of the child actor who fought the "incurable disease" right till the end.

"Farewell dearest Nikita. The heart breaks to see you gone, too young, too soon. You were such a fighter but this disease was incurable. The Pioneers and the Kool Kats of Katwe will always miss you, your light lives on in #QueenOfKatwe," the director wrote on Twitter. Madina Nalwanga played the lead and Waligwa played Gloria, Phiona's friend who explained the rules of the game in a memorable line that in chess, "the small one can become the big one".

The film also featured Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o as Phiona's mother and David Oyelowo as her chess teacher. "In her real life she had the enormous challenge of battling brain cancer. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and community as they come to terms with having to say goodbye so soon. May she truly rest in peace. May it be well with her soul," Nyong'o wrote on her Instagram.

Oyelowo said Nikita was like a "ball of light" in the movie. "We mourn the loss of our beautiful Nikita Pearl Waligwa. She was a ball of light in @queenofkatwemovie and in life. Her battle with a brain tumor was humbling to witness. Her light will live on. #rip," the actor posted.

Waligwa was initially diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2016, and her film family mobilised to get her treatment in India. She made a recovery a year later, but the tumour returned in 2019.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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