Actress jumps the SABC ship
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saying it was all due to the way her peers, the directors and the producers worked as professionals.
It was one of the highlights of my career. I now have a challenge to live up to the expectations of my fans and those who follow my acting career.
Her acting career took off while at high school when she was roped in for a role in
in the early 2000s, playing alongside seasoned actress Nambitha Mpumlwana as her daughter in the SABC1 drama series.
Mkangisa said it had not been an easy road for her to the top because after , there was a period when jobs and bookings dried up.
I didn t understand why. My agent then told me to work on my acting, attend acting workshops classes to become a professional in what I do,” she recalls.
But the sultry Mkangisa said even before graduating with a BA degree in Motion Picture and TV Editing at AFDA in Joburg FORMER actress and director Nthabiseng Mphahlele has joined the exodus of talent from the public broadcaster to e.tv.
Mphahlele, who played Meiki, James Motsamai s psycho lover on the SABC2 soapie, has migrated to join e.tv s new action drama
set to rock the small screens soon.
Sunday World understands that she will be unveiled as a surprise cast member, and will play the character of a big shot lawyer on the drama.
The actress, who was part of the team for eight years, said she would be playing the character of Ntswaki, a ruthless and smart attorney.
The character is more like that from the movie Mphahlele said. She confirmed that she left but refused to be drawn into sharing her reasons for her departure.
I was also a director at the soapie but I had to move on,” she said.
Mphahlele said she was also part of the
directing team that she joined two months ago. She has taken over the position that was left by Hlomla Dandala who left the soapie allegedly after failing to secure demands for a pay increase.
,
I was not aware that I was replacing him but I submitted my application after hearing that they were looking for a fourth director to join the soapie,” she said.
Even though her directing career seems to be blossoming, Mphahlele said she never planned to follow that career path.
When I started directing I did not know anything but Bra Duma (Ndlovu,
executive director) was patient with me and taught me everything I know today. I have learnt from him and the directing team at
she said. But the transition from actor to director was not easy for her. Mphahlele said the whole process was very difficult but also rewarding
I m now aware of the tactical aspect of acting. It is believed that directing makes one a better actor and I would like to believe that as well, she said.
Mphahlele will star alongside former
actor Anga Makhubalo, who played MJ on the SABC1 soapie.
will premiere on May 12 on e.tv at 7.30pm. ON the telly she may be a fairly new face but on the South African theatre stages Nompilo Maphumulo is a battle-scarred actress.
A long-serving member of the local theatre fraternity, Maphumulo recently made her television debut as Nosipho Xulu, the daughter of one of the two rivaling families in the popular SABC1 telenovela that premiered in February.
Maphumulo said she decided to venture into soapies and dramas in particular because she wanted to broaden her acting scope. I m gradually achieving that in
and the character I play, Nosipho, is a young interesting woman, a peacemaker of the family, in which secrets are kept away from her but she is determined to dig deep to find the truth on her own,” explained Maphumulo.
So, how did Maphumulo (33) get the role?
I was told about the auditions, which were being held at The Playhouse and I went to try my luck.
I received call backs after the first auditioning in May last year until August, when the good news was broken to me that I was going to play Nosipho.
Being clueless about television, except for my stage experience, I was helped by Thuli and Gugu Zuma ( production members) to learn the ropes the skills and techniques involved but I also attended workshops.”
The stage actress career, however, spans more than five years, having worked with renowned producer and artistic director Ed Mhlongo, the founder of Ekhaya Multi-Arts Centre (K-Cap) in KwaMashu in Durban.
After matric at Umbilo Secondary School near Durban and before joining the Multi-Arts Centre, Maphumulo worked as a waitress at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban and was a stewardess for Gold Circle horse racing and gambling.
The acting bug kept on revisiting me because that is what I always wanted to do since my teens,” she said. On stage I have lost count of the number of stage productions I have been part of.”
She says, with a doubt, the theatre remains her first love. It is where she has done monologues and dialogues too.
I will not give up theatre for anything. There is that progression coupled with thrill. There is no room for faltering or failing, it is spontaneous, said the member of the Durban Playhouse s K-Cap.
Maphumulo has acted in plays such as director Mhlongo s
and Grammy Awardwinning scathamiya group Ladysmith Black Mambazo musical
as well as in Bheki Mkhwane s
She has had roles in productions like
and and performed at the Community Arts Festival in 2012.
She has only one movie to her credit called where she featured as an extra, playing a character called Nozi.
The movie though starred top actors such as Siyabonga Radebe, Lihle Dhlomo, Mandisa Nduna, Dumisani Mbebe, Thapelo Mokoena, Amanda du-Pont, Morne du Toit, Siyabonga Twala and Siza Mthembu.