Veteran actress Sebezo’s secret to success is discipline
Actress always does homework to bring characters to life
After being in the acting industry for over 40 years, veteran actress Linda Sebezo has managed to stay relevant by remaining disciplined.
The actress has appeared in a host of television series and has kept viewers entertained with her incredible acting skills.
Staying in her lane, and loving what she does are some of the things that got her this far in the industry, and she continues to tour locally and internationally.
Speaking to Sunday World, Sebezo, who plays the controversial Rebecca on e.tv’s raunchy and emotional new drama series, The Black Door, said she is nothing like her character.
Black Door is hidden behind a toilet paper factory. It is a private venue where Rebecca treats her business associates and gives thanks to them in kind for going out of their way to land her fraudulent tenders and bribes.
“Rebecca had a husband who left her with nothing for a yellow bone woman and came back years later when he was sick.
“So, because she didn’t want to deal with the burden of taking care of someone who left her, she resorted to killing him,” said Sebezo.
Preparation and research are important for each role that an actor is given and Sebezo does not take any role for granted.
“I bring my character to life by understanding what I am doing. You can never do something you have no knowledge of.
“You need to prepare and read so that you are able to bring the character to life. You are given the character’s bio, but if you don’t do research of your own, you can never bring a character to life the way it is supposed to be,” she said.
She played an almost similar role when she was on Mzansi Magic’s Isibaya.
The actress acknowledged the roles were similar relationship-wise, but were not the same.
“People need to understand that I do not date Ben 10s in real life. I am a loving person and when I work with someone I try and make the character come to life by forming a relationship with the person I work with.”
The actress feels criticism from people over the years has helped build the type of person she has become because she chose to take it positively and build on it.
Her biggest highlight in the 40 years she has been in the acting industry was when she played the role of Sharon D on Mzansi Magic’s telenovela back in 2016.
“I believe that character made people recognise my talent because that was when I won the best supporting actress award, and from then on people were interested in my craft.”
Those coming into the industry do so mostly to chase fame and money
She didn’t study acting, but her father, Ronnie, was a singer and her aunt, Nomazizi Molose, acted in the television series, Mama’s Love.
After being in the industry for more than four decades she now finds herself at the top of her game. She believes that most of those coming into the acting industry do so mostly to chase fame and money.
“My advice to young aspiring actors is that there is nothing that beats discipline.
“Discipline is everything. I never went to school for it, but I was told by the late Gibson Kente to be disciplined because now young ones have qualifications for the job.”