Masali Baduza

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Masali Baduza
Born (1997-03-12) 12 March 1997 (age 28)
East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Alma mater New York Film Academy
OccupationActress
Years active2017–present

Masali Baduza (born 12 March 1997) [1] is a South African actress. She is best known for her role as Sephy Hadley in the BBC drama Noughts + Crosses and as Michaela Stirling in the Netflix period drama Bridgerton .

Contents

Early life

Baduza was born in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [2] She's the youngest of five children; her father worked as a journalist and her mother as a government employee. [3] After high school, Baduza moved to the United States to study at the New York Film Academy in the Los Angeles campus, graduating in 2016 with an Associate of Fine Arts in Acting for Film. [4] [5] After graduation, she returned to South Africa, where she worked primarily in theatre. [2] Baduza is bilingual in Xhosa and English. [5]

Career

Baduza began her career primarily in theatre in South Africa, including an all-female production of The Taming of the Shrew at the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre. [2] She later appeared in the South African crime thriller Trackers , which was M-Net's top performing show for 2019. [6] [7] In 2019, she was named a rising star and one to watch by the Royal Television Society. [8] In 2020 she landed her first work outside of South Africa, playing the character Sephy Hadley in the BBC One drama Noughts + Crosses.

Her film work includes Slumber Party Massacre (2021) and The Woman King (2022).

In 2024, she guest-starred in the third season of Bridgerton as Michaela Stirling, a genderflipped version of the book character Michael Stirling. [9] She appears as a regular cast member in the fourth season. [10]

Filmography

YearTitleCharacterNotes
2019 Trackers Thandi Makebe3 episodes
Bhai's Cafe Thandi
The FighterLeratoShort film
2020 – 2022 Noughts + Crosses Sephy Hadley Main role
2021 Slumber Party Massacre Young Trish Deveraux
2022 The Woman King Fumbe
2024 – Present Bridgerton Michaela StirlingGuest role (season 3)

Recurring (season 4)

2024The Morning AfterWinnie
2025Love and WineAmahleMain role

References

  1. ↑ Torres, Leonardo (13 June 2024). "Conheça Masali Baduza, a Michaela Stirling de "Bridgerton" | #Noticias". POPline (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Petersen, Caroline (August 2020). "Star crossed". Fairlady. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  3. ↑ Machell, Ben (10 April 2020). "Meet Masali Baduza and Jack Rowan, the stars of Noughts + Crosses". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  4. ↑ "Noughts and Crosses stars on racism, privilege and working with Stormzy". inews.co.uk. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  5. 1 2 "New York Film Academy (NYFA) AFA Acting for Film Alum Masali Baduza Stars in BBC's Noughts + Crosses". New York Film Academy. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  6. ↑ ""The journey of Sephy is just beautiful to me": Masali Baduza on her new role in BBC One's Noughts and Crosses". Royal Television Society. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  7. ↑ Reporter, T. M. O. (20 November 2019). "Trailblazing Trackers is M-Net's top-performing show for 2019". The Media Online. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  8. ↑ "Ones to watch: TV's rising stars". Royal Television Society. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  9. ↑ Rivera, Briannah; Puckett-Pope, Lauren (13 June 2024). "What We Know About Bridgerton Actress Masali Baduza—and Her Role as Michaela Stirling". ELLE . Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  10. ↑ Radloff, Jessica (13 June 2024). "Bridgerton Season 3 finale: Who is Michaela Stirling? Everything we know about Masali Baduza". Glamour UK. Retrieved 10 January 2026.


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