The new Starz series The Nowhere Man is on the way, starring South African actor Bonko Cosmo Khoza. He plays Lukas, a former mercenary and member of an elite Special Forces brigade trying to leave his violent past behind — until unexpected circumstances pull him back in. Speaking with ABC Audio, Khoza says his character’s journey was a major reason he took the role.
“What drew me to Lukas was the story of redemption,” he says. “He’s had a tough past and wants to be someone different. When we meet him, he’s trying to reconcile who he was with who he wants to become. That’s compelling.”
In the series, Lukas lives quietly as a junk collector in a homeless shelter, keeping a low profile. But after witnessing a home invasion, he steps in to save a woman in danger — forcing him back into a world of violence he’d hoped to escape.
Khoza says he was able to portray a character who pivots from one life to another by drawing from his experience in his native Johannesburg, where the show is based and which he describes as fast-paced and survival-driven. Rather than highlight Lukas’ lethal skills, Khoza says his goal was to approach the role with restraint, allowing the character’s past to gradually come to the surface.
He portrays Lukas as introspective and guarded, with flashbacks revealing a lighter, freer version of his former self — a sharp contrast from the burdened and traumatized man he’s become. Khoza says that approach makes the character’s revelations “much more rewarding” because “you didn’t see it coming.”
The Nowhere Man premieres Friday on Starz, a platform Khoza is happy to see the South African series land on. “A South African action [show] of this standard hasn’t really been seen before,” he says. “The minute the train came, I jumped right on.”
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