Teen star Gabrielle de Gama on her TV debut in ‘Reyka’
GABRIELLE de Gama is unlike most 14 year olds. She isn’t spending countless hours scrolling through social media, catching up with her girlfriends, or making TikTok videos. Instead, she’s planting footprints in the music and entertainment industry.
On the back of recently releasing her debut single, Nasty, which tackles cyberbullying, she bagged a plum role in M-Net’s African crime drama, Reyka. Before delving into her role in the series, she expanded on her journey since bagging the role of Annie at Peoples Theatre in Johannesburg.
That just opened a lot of doors for me. I started to get vocal coaching and then I joined my agency, 33 & Me.” This saw her exposed to the Performance Academy, where she honed her skills in acting.
With so much exposure to the spotlight, it’s easy to understand De Gama’s confident and focused approach. She handled our virtual tête-à-tête with a maturity that belies her age. I was impressed.
Back to the series, which centres on a brilliant but flawed criminal profiler, Reyka Gama (Kim Engelbrecht), who, in investigating a string of brutal murders committed by a serial killer in the sugar cane fields of KwaZulu-Natal, is forced to confront her own demons, having been abducted as a child by a farmer named Speelman (Iain Glen).
De Gama is cast as Young Reyka. Having caught a sneak preview of the first episode, the teenager handles her role and intense emotions with commendable finesse.
“It was really nerve racking when I first met Iain. He’s such a big influence on the film industry, globally, and that scared me because it was my first time on TV.”
Although she didn’t have any scenes with Engelbrecht, she met the seasoned actress a few times and engaged in a quick banter over their shared character.
Most of De Gama’s scenes were shot during the school holidays.
But she’s very focused on time management when it comes to juggling school with her fledgling career in entertainment. “School always comes first. If you don’t take your education seriously, no one is going to take you seriously.”
With such a good head on her shoulders, this rising teen star who is still having that “pinch me” moment after getting to meet Thando Thabethe, Anna-Mart van der Merwe (as her small screen mom, Elsa) and Engelbrecht, is bound to go far in this industry!
◆ Reyka premieres on M-Net (DStv channel 101) on Sunday, July 25, at 8pm.