‘Legacy’ director says fans can expect a ‘rebirth of the series’ for season two

M-NET’S award-winning telenovela Legacy has been renewed for a second season starting mid-September. And with even more thrills and less frills, viewers will be at the edge of their seats.

The telenova stars a bevy of South African A-list actors like Mary Anne Barlow, Kgomotso Christopher and Michelle Botes, with its main focus on the fight between family members for the corner office and Legacy chief executive title.

Aside from the office drama, season one gave viewers a storyline that resonated with them, featuring alcoholism, out-of-wedlock pregnancy and blackmail, among other topics.

Director Natalie Haarhoff says viewers can expect “a rebirth of the series” and a big expansion of the story universe which will be even more compelling and addictive.

She said her husband chuckles when she’s reading the scripts.

“Oooh! My husband laughs because I get so animated, shocked, surprised and thrilled while going through them. It’s going to be great,” she said.

About winning numerous awards unexpectedly, Haarhof said it was the last thing on her mind, and came as a total surprise.

“I think when you’re so deeply ‘in it’, the last thing you’re thinking about is winning awards. You just want to do the absolute best you can do in the moment, so it was a really great surprise and so great to be honoured for the immense amount of work that the crew and cast put into the show,” she said.

While there are so many characters to love, Haarhoff is attracted to Mary Anne Barlow’s character, Felicity.

“I think Felicity is such a beautifully complexed character, and I love the concept of a powerful yet broken woman.

“Also the notion of ‘legacy’ itself is such a deeply important theme in South Africa, so it sets itself up to be a riveting telenovela,” she said.

A stickler for detail, Haarhoff said if the scene she’s watching on the monitor doesn’t move her, then it’s probably not good enough.

“I strive for the full ensemble of tools at my disposal to come together to keep us in the story. I feel that from performance, to shot design through to whether a shirt is ironed or not – one can really drive a story in the direction you want it to got in.

“I don’t like lazy directing, I’m always asking ‘how can it be better?’ When you work as fast as we do on Legacy, it’s hard to keep on asking these questions, but hey, perhaps that’s why we win 12 Saftas in one go,” she said.

Legacy season 2 will premiere on Monday, September 20 at 7pm on M-Net (DStv channel 101).

It can also be live-streamed on the DStv App and is available on DStv Catch and Showmax.