A love-triangle lesbian is Altovise from Boksburg’s first Hollywood role
● Home-grown actress Altovise Lawrence, 28, has little doubt her new film — produced in the US — will set tongues wagging back home.
The Other Side, a love triangle challenging convention, stars Lawrence as Kiya, a wildly outspoken novelist and lesbian who shows up as maid of honour at a friend’s wedding, provoking immediate animosity from the bridegroom.
She plays alongside US actors Erica Hubbard (Kiana in Akeelah and the Bee) and Brad James (Todd in the sitcom Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse). The movie is due for release in SA on May 3.
Kiya shows up as Gem (Hubbard) is getting married to Allen (James). From the moment Allen sees Kiya he considers her a rival for his new wife’s attention and the trio end up in a love triangle.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Lawrence, who was born and grew up in Boksburg, said she was excited that the film would be shown on home soil.
“I’m excited and a bit scared, as this was my first big American project as an actor from SA. And I’m just a bit nervous about how it will be received. I just hope the message translates,” she said.
The film was the first big project for Lawrence after she won the top actor award for 2015 in Black Entertainment Television’s first Africa production.
Lawrence says she took the role of a lesbian to spread the message that love is love, irrespective of whether it is between homosexual or heterosexual people.
“Irrespective of who shares it and what it looks like and the form it comes in, I want love to be celebrated with no face to it.
“I am ready for the questions and the funny looks, as well as people who will question it and may even speak nonsense about it,” she said.
South African movie producer Dumi Gumbi said it would appeal to different markets even though it was a Hollywoodstyle romcom and would hit the mark here.
Gumbi has been involved in producing movies that range from horror (The Tokoloshe) to romance (Love Lives Here).
“We have to be honest and say the film is an American film that happens to have a South African actress. If you look at the local box office, it is still dominated by
Hollywood. So for us, it’s a very strategic thing to be working in this fashion because our local audiences are so prone to watching Hollywood films. So we had to find a way to be part of that but also producing content that featured Africa in a great way, whether through talent or skills.”
Gumbi said even though Lawrence was the only South African actress in this film, the producers planned to capitalise on the power of merging Africa and the US in storytelling and grow both industries.