Now Sekgopi aims at music
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PETITE and young actress Matshepo Emmie Sekgopi has set her sights on branching into music.
Sekgopi, 19, is famous for playing the equally small-boned and youthful Esihle in the e.tv week-night gangster drama.
With South African music gaining momentum and recognition both on the continent and abroad, she is familiarising herself with local music genres before making inroads.
I want to make my mark as an actor before going into music as an art, big time. I first want to learn how the industry works,” says the former student of Hoërskool Bekker, in picturesque Magaliesburg, Mogale City.
Now studying part-time, doing a short course in performing arts at Boston Media College, Sekgopi does not mince her words when spelling out how she is arming herself for the cut-throat music industry.
I am not in a rush to start getting into the studio and recording. That will come at a later stage. For now, I am exploring and laying a foundation, says the former edutainment show host.
One thing I like about the industry [acting] is the bonds we form with different people. I like working with the older, more experienced actors because at my age I still have a lot to learn.
She says she is at ease when guided by people who best know what they are talking about.
I take their advice to heart so as to be relevant. It is hard work but when everything falls into place the hard work I have put in will speak for myself, I believe.”
Sekgopi never auditioned for her character on she was hand-picked by the producers who had worked with her before.
Unlike the hated spoilt brat she was in season one, on part two Esihle has become the darling of the viewers.
Esihle was an unhappy soul when her mom uprooted her from Dubai to settle in South Africa, so she became rebellious but now she is more mature, she has calmed down.
She is no longer causing havoc, she is in teen-love with her boyfriend Paseka, a reformed gangster. They come from similar backgrounds of emotional neglect and having absent fathers but both aspire to live a normal life.”
Sekgopi views as a township thugs series that always reinforces the weakness of people armed with guns.
It proves that the armed are vulnerable with or without their weapons and it portrays street life as real as it is in townships. It has something for everyone. The uniqueness of the characters gives every viewer something to ponder on.”
Catch Z bondiwe on e.tv on Tuesdays at 9:35pm.