Rhythm City’s new hot thang
DOORS SWUNG OPEN FOR HIM AFTER HE WAS ON MZANSI MAGIC’S ‘THE QUEEN’ Since then he’s appeared on numerous shows.
With his killer looks and flair for acting, viewers have loved seeing Jesse Suntele on their small screens.
He’s popped up on SABC1 drama, Ngempela, as a guest star on soapie, Generations: The Legacy, as Kabelo on the e.tv soapie, Ashes to Ashes.
He’s won the second season of Top Actor Africa on BET, as a contestant on Vuzu Amp reality competition series, The Hustle, or as Tuelo (aka officer Bae) on the Mzansi Magic telenovela, The Queen.
Those who’ve been paying close attention to the actor’s journey can attest that he has portrayed characters skilfully, despite not having any formal acting qualifications. Now Suntele is mesmerising Rhythm City viewers every weekday on e.tv as Nqaba, Suffocate’s suave, quick to anger son. Suntele says that with no acting qualification, it was quite a task to convince acting agencies to bank on him.
He reckoned that if he wanted to make it as an actor, despite having studied Sound Engineering, he had to find his way around the scepticism agencies had and get the exposure he needed.
“So I decided to do competitions, joining the BET reality competition series Top Actor Africa in 2016.
“This was the biggest step in the right direction because even if I hadn’t won, it was the right path to follow. It got me noticed and enbaled me to meet connections,” he said.
“The Fergusons, particularly Shona Ferguson, were watching the competition, hence it helped me find a job a lot more easily in the acting industry.” He played the role of Tuelo (famously known as officer Bae) on the Fergusons’ Mzansi Magic popular telenovela, The Queen, making his first appearance in season one.
On the show, his character was a policeman by day and a serial killer by night, a role viewers were rather impressed with.
This role opened doors for him in the cutthroat acting industry, he says, explaining that his time on the telenovela was life changing.
“The character had two sides to him, allowing me to portray two different sides of my skill,” he said. He played a kind and gentle spirit and a dark character in a short space of time. “Being on Rhythm City is like the two sides of a coin because on the one hand I’m extremely grateful to be part of the show, and feel that being on it is a sign that I’m doing something right and actually going somewhere in my career.
“However, on the other hand, it puts me under a lot of pressure working with so many talented and respected actors and crew,” he said.
“You don’t want to step on the show like you’ve made it, but you want to do the job justice.”
Nevertheless, so far his experience on Rhythm City has been amazing and he has not received any negative comments from viewers.
“People love the relationships Nqaba has with those around him. So far so good.”
He says because his character is so predictable, viewers are probably right about which steps he will take next, but that there will be a lot of twist and turns showing the different sides of Nqaba. We have seen him as a presenter on BET A-List, a musician on Vuzu Amp and an actor on numerous channels, proving just how versatile his talent is.
However the 25-year-old says presenting, just like acting, came naturally for him.
“I never dreamt that I would one day be a presenter, just like I loved acting and never thought I would act for a living. But now I’m in love with it.” Music was his first love. “Music has always been my baby; my number one. “Even back in the day, I knew I wanted to do music.” “I’m still waiting for a role as an action hero in an action-packed film.
“This is the next role I’m pursuing; something that takes the movie, iNumber Number, to the next level; a movie that looks like it’s made in Hollywood but is made here at home in our backyard.”
Suntele says though Mzansi Magic’s prison drama, Lockdown, has a mostly female cast.
“It’s a show I would love to be a part of.”
Other than that, the role he is still waiting for has not been created yet. Although he describes himself as “a thinker and a planner; a man that lives most of his life inside his head”, Suntele also opened up about his fear of failure, indication that a lot of the decisions he makes are based on logic rather than emotion.
“I plan ahead in everything, including my career.
“I try to be two steps ahead of myself and this is because of my fear of failing.
“This is one of the reasons I do as many things as possible with my life.
“So I won’t have any regrets when I leave this world, knowing that I have tried,” he concluded.