Motloung’s love for art led him to acting
Thespian Sello Motloung is best known for a variety of roles he has bagged and is a multilingual actor who speaks Isizulu, Sesotho, English, Setswana and Sepedi.
He is originally from Meadowlands in Soweto and his love for the arts began when he was in high school. Speaking to Sunday World about his artistic journey, Motloung said the fine arts was one of his God-given talents.
“A family friend identified some of the stuff I was doing, and he spotted my skill and told my mom about an art school across the Market Theatre. He took me there and I started parttime art lessons but because my family didn’t have money, after two years I had to drop out.”
His older brother used to buy a popular newspaper that had an insert, which intrigued him because it focused on the arts.
“I used to read the insert and that’s where I came across the names of a lot of artists, and I started following dramatic arts.
“I also liked what I saw on television, even though then it was very limited because we only had a few channels.”
The actor said he was inspired by both South African and international actors such as the late Zakes Mokae, whom he saw on two episodes of TV series Knight Rider.
For him it was inspiring because Mokae’s family was also from Meadowlands,
“Somehow my love for painting transformed into words and actions. Theatre was the bread and butter for a whole lot of actors. The first play I saw was the Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, done by students at the fine arts school I had dropped out of.”
After matriculating he registered for acting training for two years and straight after that he did a play at the Market Theatre.
Motloung is now part of Showmax’s telenovela The Wife, and will be playing the role of Naledi’s father, Kgosi, the chief of the Royal Thabeng.
“Kgosi has a very unbalanced relationship between his two daughters, with Naledi being the favourite, and as a father I want only the best for her. The relationship Naledi has with Qhawe Zulu does not sit well with Kgosi because of his [Zulu’s] agenda regarding the future of his family,” said Motloung.