What it means to be 19
‘WYFIE’: LOOTS HAS A BIT IN COMMON WITH EXTROVERT AMANDA
Her character has good intentions but can accidentally hurt others.
South African actress Celeste Loots last September burst into the IMDbPro Starmeter top 100, thanks to her breakthrough role as Kaya in One Piece.
She followed that up with a scene-stealing turn in Showmax Original Trompoppie as Zanne, the first cheerleader to die. Now, she’s back on Showmax with her biggest role yet: she plays Amanda in the university koshuis (hostel) drama Wyfie.
We chatted to the rising star.
Why did you want to become an actor?
I think I’ve always been drawn to acting but I didn’t decide I wanted to act right after school; I first started studying at the University of Cape Town with the plan to go into law.
I had drama as an elective subject and had a feeling in my bones that I had to do this thing.
I then auditioned for a place in the theatre and performing arts degree programme without telling anyone. Only when I was accepted, I was like, “Surprise, you guys. New plan.”
What is ‘Wyfie’ about?
Wyfie is about four university girls who try to figure out life together.
How does your own university experience compare to what we see in ‘Wyfie’?
I studied at the University of Cape Town, but I didn’t live in a dorm, so that part – of how they get woken up early in the morning and then have to do whatever – I didn’t experience myself.
But I have heard so many stories from some of my friends who were in the dorms, and even from my parents, which are very similar to the stories in Wyfie.
I feel the Wyfie world draws from the real world.
I think the overall vibe of Wyfie sums up what it feels like to be 19 years old; that first moment of freedom in the world while there is still all this stuff going on in your personal life.
You are expected to be this adult, but you don’t know how to be an adult... So then you just go and drink.
Tell us more about your character.
Amanda is quite messy. She is opinionated and passionate. She has a massive passion for life, and she lives in the moment.
She is very impulsive and a very big extrovert who looks for the kind of experiences that make good stories.
She has good intentions, but it’s that typical thing that happens when you’re 19 years old: you’re quite selfish, but you don’t quite realise it yet; and you accidentally hurt people, although that isn’t your intention.
Are you similar to Amanda?
I definitely have a few things in common with her. I’m also quite stubborn when I feel like it.
I can also relate to how she is protective of the people she cares about – and when she cares, she cares a lot.
I initially auditioned for another character, and when they called me back to do another audition, it was for that character, as well as for Amanda.
And it was the strangest thing because when I walked out of that room, I could feel her (Amanda) in my body. Amanda was so in me. It was a very special thing to experience.
Tell us more about your relationships with your co-stars?
Mienke (Ehlers), who plays Mia, and I were at primary school together in Paarl. We were in the same class and have known each other since we were about six years old.
I went to a different high school, so we drifted apart for a while. It’s pretty special to come back to someone you knew so long ago.
With Beáta (Bena Green) and Kristen (Raath), it quickly began to feel like a family.
It sounds so cheesy, but we really had such an easy bond and an easy chemistry between all four of us, which I think transfers into the story and onto the screen.
We have one day off a week and then we will still go to lunch together or something.
Why should people watch ‘Wyfie’?
People should watch Wyfie because it is a series that is not shy.
This is a series that wants to look at characters that people can relate to.
It feels like the series is stepping into life and showing how everything feels and looks from the inside, instead of looking in from the outside.