Ellah Maina on craft, comedy, & playing against gender expectations

Comedy is often dismissed as light, disposable entertainment. But in Adam to Eve, Showmax’s sharp gender-swap dramedy, humour becomes something more subversive: a disarming tool that invites audiences to confront uncomfortable truths without immediately putting up defences.

At the centre of this balancing act is Ellah Maina, who delivers what is arguably the most transformative performance of her career as Eve, formerly Adam.

The series follows Adam, a smooth-talking ladies’ man whose life is flipped upside down when a mysterious curse forces him to live as a woman.

What begins as a familiar body-swap premise quickly deepens into an exploration of gender expectations, power, empathy, and everyday double standards. And for Ellah, the laughter is not the destination, it’s the doorway.

What makes Adam to Eve resonate is its refusal to preach. Instead of delivering its message with a raised finger, the show lets humor do the heavy lifting, allowing viewers to laugh before they realise what they are laughing at.

This approach allows the series to address issues many viewers instinctively avoid: entitlement, gendered expectations, and the invisible labour women carry. The jokes soften the entry point, but the emotional aftertaste remains.

Ellah credits the show’s tonal balance to both the writing and the direction. “I looooved having Alex as my director,” she says.

“He’s so silly and fun to be around, but also incredibly sharp. That environment made it easy to find the emotional truth without losing the humour.”

Preparing to play a woman who was once a man required more than surface-level mimicry. Ellah approached the role like a case study, choosing observation over exaggeration.

“I had to go a bit method for this one. I studied how men walk, talk, sit, chew, and even how they shower. I’d hang out in different bars, from local joints to fancy spots, just watching how men behaved once the drinks kicked in. That’s when the masks drop.”

Yet the performance never feels like parody. Instead, it captures something more unsettling: familiarity. Eve’s frustrations feel earned because they are rooted in recognisable behaviour rather than caricature.

One of the show’s most talked-about moments involves Eve getting her first period, a scene that initially plays for laughs before landing on something far heavier.

“That episode hit differently. Period shaming is so not cool. It’s wild that in 2025 we’re still dealing with stigma and misinformation around something so natural.”

Here, humour becomes a Trojan horse. The laughter opens the door, but what follows is discomfort and recognition. The scene exposes how casually society dismisses women’s pain, even while normalising it.

“If people can laugh and still walk away thinking, ‘We need to do better,’ then the show has done its job,” she adds.

One of Adam to Eve’s strengths is its trust in the audience. It doesn’t label itself or over-explain its politics. Instead, it presents lived experiences and lets viewers connect the dots.

Nick Mutuma once told Ellah that it takes a strong female lead to shape the minds of a generation, a statement she carried into the role.

The result is a character who is funny, flawed, exhausted, and resilient, a combination that feels honest rather than aspirational.

For Ellah, the ultimate goal isn’t controversy or applause, it’s connection.

“I hope women watching feel seen and validated,” she says. “We know it’s not easy, but we thrive anyway. That’s how powerful we are.”

By wrapping hard truths in humour, Adam to Eve proves that comedy can be more than escape. It can be a mirror one that makes you laugh, then quietly asks you to look again.