SA’s favourite TV couple
SCHUMACHER AND KGOSIETSILE: LIFE OFF AND ON SCREEN FOR DOWN-TO-EARTH STARS
Fathers on love, life and family.
Both controversial and scandalous, the homosexual relationship on Mzansi Magic telenovella The Queen is hard to ignore.
Portrayed by two heterosexual family men – Eastern Cape-born Vuyolwethu Ngcukana, 34, better known as Vuyo, and soap legend Sello Maake Ka-Ncube, 56 – the pair has managed to warm the hearts of South Africans.
Ngcukana, a newcomer on the TV scene, was born and bred in Mthatha where the Xhosa traditions are kept sacred.
But it is thanks to his grandmother that he ended up on the TV screen.
“I was always involved in the arts, from my grandmother’s crèche, we used to do recitations, and my mother also put me into productions – so much so that I would model clothes for a local store.”
Eager to study arts, Ngcukana went on to further his studies at RAU (now University of Johannesburg) where he enrolled for a diploma in public relations – which was shortlived when he stumbled upon the drama department at the university.
“I fell in love with drama. It overtook my studies in PR,” said the actor.
Ngcukana was forced to drop out eventually, having to assist his family back home, which led him to becoming a call centre agent – a time which he believed helped harness his script reading and voice projection and annunciation of words.
“We had to stay in character even during breaks, you couldn’t sound like a South African leaning towards American,” he said.
TV and theatre royalty Ka-Ncube is no stranger to the limelight, having started his career at 15. Maake Ka-Ncube is among the best South African performers.
“When I began to know what a play was, I was fifteen and from there I started to mimic what I saw on the stage. As an actor your wealth is your craft and how good you are at it.”
His breakout moment occurred in the ’90s, when he made his first appearance on Generations as Archie Moroka.
HOW DID YOU END UP ON THE QUEEN?
VN: I don’t know how I got the role exactly, but I had begged Shona Ferguson for months to give me some of his time. He gave me five minutes to sell myself. Later I got a call from my agent telling me about the role I was being offered and it was an unreal experience. SN: First and foremost I need to acknowledge that I am an actor and being an actor you need to be able to do all kinds of things. But this has been a challenge as this character has forced people to see me in a different way. After I had read the script and saw who my character is, I remember telling my family to watch as they would see me in a different light. My kids were shocked and my friends were convinced I had been hiding as I play this role so well.
AFTER FINDING OUT ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER, HOW DID YOU PREPARE YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS FOR IT?
VN: I come from a very liberal family and because my mother understands the arts, it was never a big thing. When I found out my character would have a gay love interest, I took it as a challenge and decided I would play gay like it has never been done before. Our communities are filled with guys like Schumacher; the term is After Nines or Down Low (DL). We know them but hardly ever speak about them, so this was an opportunity for me to open the conversation. SM: When I read the script for the first time, I was like, okay this is interesting. Sadly, because it’s TV you find that there is no enough time to research the type of gay I wanted to play.