You ain’t seen nothing yet from this new star
SHE has already established herself as a character viewers love to hate: a teenager who elevates the description “rebellious” to another level.
Of course, there are always two sides to any story. And Refilwe, the precocious young upstart on Mzansi Magic’s popular drama series The Queen, has experienced a tumultuous start to life, to say the least.
First, she witnessed her father murdering her mother. Then, she was shipped off to stay with relatives who, instead of providing love and support for the grief-stricken teen, abused her.
Refilwe’s acting out may grate with our sensibilities of showing respect towards our elders, but under the circumstances, who can blame her?
For young creative Goasi Raditholo, inhabiting the role of Refilwe meant tapping into her experiences in drama school to fully appreciate the motivation behind her character.
“When I first read Refilwe’s bio, I was like…” – in between chuckles – “I don’t know if I can tackle this role. But I told myself, ‘first things first’. We know the basic drama school principle: never judge a character. The minute you start judging the character, then you disconnect,” she said.
“So I tried to find certain things that happened in my own personal life that can relate to the character.
“I’ve been through so many experiences that I can sort of see or tap into my 18-year-old self. I have an archive in which to look for these characters and that is interesting and easier for me.”
Having immersed herself in the story of Refilwe, Raditholo insists the petulant teenager is simply misunderstood.
“She’s a hurt teenager who has felt abandoned by life itself, but she’s also going GAOSI RADITHOLO talks to Kedibone Modise about her role as the unruly teenager Refilwe in and her passion for theatre and film
through so much trauma after witnessing her father murdering her mother in front of her. I think that’s enough to get her feeling misunderstood, displaced, alone, angry. I think that’s who Refilwe is: I think she’s hurt more than angry.”
Raditholo remains intrigued by the idea of a troubled character, and would like to investigate even darker roles in the future, including someone in the grip of addiction.
“It should be a story about a woman who has seen the world from different shades,” she envisages. “It has to be something quite psychotic or complicated mentally. I really like those types of things. “I want
be to
scratching my neck and experience what it feels like living in a crack house for instance, as a woman in this world, in this Johannesburg world. If anyone out there can create that role, then I’m ready.”
Refilwe’s antics have made it hard for viewers to welcome her, but are also what keeps them engrossed in her story. Raditholo promises that the drama gets even juicer in the coming weeks, although she keeps her cards close to her chest.
“You yet!” is disclose.
It’s an apt description for Raditholo herself. Though she’s only starting out in the industry, the young actress isn’t content to rest on her laurels. As a dramatic arts student at Wits University, Raditholo is already preparing for her next industry incarnation: that of a film director. As more women in the film industry take the reins behind the camera and craft their own stories,
ain’t seen nothing all she’s willing to Raditholo, it seems, has caught the mood. Having struggled to land a role after graduating, she’s now convinced she can create opportunities for herself. “I’m currently doing my Master’s in film-making at Wits University,” she says. “I said to myself, ‘let me stop complaining and put up some work, let me be that woman who creates her own content’. “I have shot a few short films for school but I’m also in talks with some friends who are film-makers to collaborate on work which is more creative this year.”
Before landing her role in The Queen, Raditholo scored her TV break with a short role in SABC2’s telenovela Keeping Score.
The Botswana-born beauty was also making a name for herself on the stage, with roles in Zakes Mda’s classic The Mother of all Eating and Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun.
“I worked with actor and director Magaola Ndebele. We directed the play Mother of all Eating by Mda, who actually came to watch the show. It is quite phenomenal to have the writer watch his own work on stage, it’s exciting,” she said.
“In 2016, I landed a role on A Raisin in the Sun, a Market Theatre production by James Ngcobo.”
As a young girl, Raditholo took inspiration from Pamela Nomvete, a small-screen legend who brought to vivid life quite possibly TV’s ultimate bad girl, Ntsiki, in the soap Generations. Perhaps this is why Raditholo seems so eager to gravitate towards the dark side.
“Nomvete is phenomenal,” gushes Raditholo.
“I still remember watching Generations back in the day, as a child, and I wanted to be like her.”
With her role in The Queen, Raditholo is well on her way to doing just that.
“I’ve had this mantra forages: I’m about to blow up. Even before getting on The Queen, I was like ‘I’m about to blow up, speak things into life’.
“Next year I have big dreams. I’d like to have shot my own short films. Submitted them to international festivals, created my own work basically, and hopefully land a role in a film.
“I’m just putting it out there to the universe. I want my creative projects to pick up and for me to get those meaty roles I’ve always wanted to play.”