E Cape actress revels in success of hit series
South African Netflix original shoots to the top of the charts around the world
In less than a week after its global release, the new Netflix original series
Blood and
— led by Eastern
Water Cape actress Amamkele Qamata
— made history by being the first SA show to rank at No 1 in the US.
The show also shot to No 1 in at least five other countries including SA, Jamaica, Kenya, the Bahamas and
France, and ranked in the top 10 in the UK, Brazil and Belgium.
For 21-year-old Qamata, who plays the lead character, Puleng, the global success of the series has surpassed her wildest dreams.
“This is an absolute dream come true for me. I could never have imagined that the 10-year-old girl who played Snow White in primary school would be in a Netflix original series, and I hope that my story inspires many other Eastern Cape girls to go for their dreams.
“I am also grateful for the people I look up to, such as Zozibini Tunzi [the reigning
Miss Universe], who also hails from the Eastern Cape. When you follow in those footsteps, you see that nothing is impossible,” Qamata said.
Qamata, who hails from the Eastern Cape town of Cala, plays 16-year-old Puleng, who throughout the six-episode teen drama secretly looks for her missing sister, who was abducted from a Cape Town hospital after birth.
Puleng suspects a fellow high school pupil who she met at a house party may be her long-lost sister.
The series taps into the prevalence of human trafficking in SA, youth culture and private high school dynamics, among other themes.
Not only did leading the series take her back to high school, it afforded her the opportunity to subconsciously validate the dreams of young, black and darkskinned aspiring lead actresses, she said.
“I was [also] in high school not so long ago and it was very nice to relive high school and experience it through a lens, but my high school experience and Puleng’s are very different.
“One of the things that resonated with me the most is definitely how familyorientated she is — everything that Puleng does is to protect her family, so it was very easy for me to understand what her motives were because I’m also like that about my own family,” the former Reddam House School pupil said.
By placing Qamata in the lead, among a mix of new and experienced actors,
reignited
Blood and Water conversations around representation in films and opening up the industry to new talent, and seeing viewers celebrate a darkskinned, rising star leading a globally acclaimed Netflix original series.
“Seeing the viewers’ reaction to the show, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that was what people wanted to see, and while the crew wasn’t specifically looking for a darkskinned female to play this character, the fact that people can look at me and see themselves being represented has reopened a [conversation] about what’s missing in the industry — representation.
“I am glad that I get to be the person who young girls see on a billboard and think, ‘There is someone who looks like me who’s doing that, so I can also achieve it’,” she said.
The actress won the hearts of viewers across the globe with the role, nearly two months after grabbing South Africans’ attention as 15-year-old Buhle on
when the Mzansi
Gomora
Magic hit telenovela premiered in March.
The actress has also appeared in SABC 1’s
My Perfect when she was Family in high school, e.tv soap opera and is in
Rhythm City the international film
Commandos: The Mission.
which
Blood and Water, is set in Cape Town, is a production by Gambit Films. They are the creators of films
Nommer 37 and Noem My Skollie.