Cover Story – Pearl Thusi
2019 is fast drawing to a close. Adulting, as usual, has been kicking our behinds. This month, instead of dwelling on the negatives, we choose to revel in Pearl Thusi’s travel anecdotes. The spirited actress and TV presenter waxes lyrical about the power
Pearl Thusi is the embodiment of being comfortable in one’s skin. That she can randomly break into a twerk or dance up a storm outside an international airport, all while slowing down traffic, is classic of her. Once, during a 2013 photo shoot and interview for City Press’ iMagazine, she nonchalantly slipped out of her shoot ensemble back into her own clothes — completely unbothered that she was a bra and panty away from being naked in front of a journo she had just met. At our November cover shoot — at the Cradle Moon Lakeside Game Lodge in Muldersdrift — I joke about how that 2013 incident scarred me. “Yini, do you have a crush on me?” she asks wittily, before inviting me to watch her change into the first swimsuit ensemble of the day.
When I meet Pearl for our interview the next day, she keeps interrupting her lines of thought with long animated pauses — something she does when wanting to communicate a new brainwave. And then there’s the incessant requests for her manager, Yvette Gayle, to complete her sentences with words that seem to have escaped her mind at that point. I must admit that at the start of our chat, I found myself lost in the profound and self-invented quotes she kept dropping like a rapper would a smashing punchline. “I want to have an impact greater than I can fathom,” she says, unprompted. She continues reflecting on this current chapter of her life: “I want the child I was to be proud of the adult I am today. The things that hurt me the most, now, are those that used to hurt me badly as a child. And the things that make me proud the most are things I wanted to become as a child. When I’m doing anything that involves ensuring that children have quality education — and subsequently a bright future — that really fulfils my soul and recharges me so that I can go back, to the world, and give some more. Anything to do with wildlife, walking my dogs or instances where I’ve broken the generational curses in my family also fill me up.” She adds that her countless generosity was inspired by her late mom, who always sought opportunities to help out those in need. Pearl hit her acting career high, in 2016, when she was cast as Dayana Mampasi on the second season of the American TV series, Quantico. Since then, her star has been on the up, with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The mom of two girls — Thandolwethu (12) and Okuhle (4) — is set to play a lead role in Netflix’s first original African series, Queen Sono, scheduled to premiere in the first quarter of 2020.
On the flight back to South Africa, following her stay in New York, she wondered why it had taken acting in an international series for her talent to be validated back home. This question, she says, brewed inside her as she was shooting Quantico. She returned with a very clear purpose of prioritising African stories. While shooting the stunt-heavy film The Scorpion King: Book of Souls at the end of 2017, which she admits she was “bad ass” in, she was reminded of those days when she fantasised about playing adventure roles, à la Angelina Jolie in the 2001 actionadventure film Tomb Raider. “In less than two weeks, I learnt to ride a horse with a spear in one hand while riding up and down sand dunes,” she shares.
A few months later, she organised a meeting with friend and film director, Kagiso Lediga, to share her vision of this character that, at the time, only existed somewhere between her wild imagination and the videos of her stunt training sessions from The Scorpion King: Book of Souls. “While relaying this concept to Kagiso, I could tell that he was listening intently but trying
to figure out where I was going with my story. It was only when I showed him my training video that he connected the dots and invited Tamsin Andersson, his filmmaker wife and co-founder of their production company Diprente Films, to come check out my moves,” she enthuses.
Pearl modelled a storyline around a strong-willed female character tackling corruption in African governments, something she cites as one of her pet hates. Kagiso and Tamsin fleshed out the idea with production experts and started selling it. In a country that prefers ‘safe’ scripts, some production houses were interested but didn’t fully grasp the concept until they were shown the stunt video. “Netflix happened to be in town one day, and they hit us up. We pitched the idea to them and they were like, ‘this is our first African Netflix original’. And just like that, Queen Sono was born!’” Queen Sono is a sharp young African woman, who works for a South African secret intelligence agency that fights corruption in and around Africa. “I can tell you now that the missions she embarks on are pretty intense. Physically, I’m killing it with my moves — so get ready!” she gloats.
Pearl switches to philosophical, at this point, and starts explaining why it’s incredibly important to speak things into existence and take stock of our blessings. “Sometimes you get a sudden urge to do something, but have no idea why. On the afternoon of my meeting with Kagiso, I was tempted to postpone, but something would not let me. I trusted my gut, got into my car and left.” And now here she is, shooting a show billed to be the best Netflix original to come out of Africa!
On her 2018 vision board, Pearl wrote that she hoped to get cast for another international series — obviously not knowing that Netflix would make her dream a reality. Again, she reiterates how the universe listens when we dictate to it. “I dedicate Queen Sono to every young girl who never knew she could or doesn’t think she can. While fictional, she’s a hero that every black woman must find within herself,” she gushes. A subject she’s clearly passionate about, she continues: “I want black women, young and old, to know that they must still push through even when society dismisses them. The dismissal doesn’t count until you dismiss yourself.” Through presenting BET’s Behind The Story, Pearl enjoys travelling into her subject’s journeys and minds. Being open about her own personal life, she says, has helped position her as an endearing host. “I don’t take the process of getting my subjects to open up for granted, I also can’t expect my subjects to engage in something I’m not willing to do,” she says of the show where the likes of Unathi Nkayi, DJ Fresh and Gigi Lamayne have dropped bombs on aspects of their lives that were previously unknown to the public. “I don’t want people’s reputations to be in shambles when they leave my show! Twenty years from now, I want people to look back at their episodes of Behind The Story and be proud of choosing to lay their souls bare with me!”
A NEW PAGE
When Mama Panther, as Pearl’s social media nickname goes, signed up with her new management team, her intention was to communicate a new lease on life — that of power and peace. “I want to own my power, get involved in ground-breaking projects, and embrace my strengths while understanding that these things take vulnerability and serenity.” As part of guarding her peace, she’s taken a conscious decision to steer clear of engaging in any controversial trending topics on social media — one of those being colourism. She recounts how, in the past, she’d share her personal experience with colourism without trying to diminish anyone else’s story. “Colonialism and apartheid were successful in their quest because to this day, we’re still fighting amongst each other. People aren’t ready to have the colourism conversation — and that means listening and not waiting for the next person to finish so you can respond.” Until then, she’d much rather do something tangible around colourism than to merely turn it into a fruitless trending Twitter topic.
But what she will definitely engage in more of is a working formula of bubble baths, wine and candles. This is her way of keeping everything holistic, she says. “After a long and hard day, that’s what I long for. But you need to have the right salts, the perfect playlist, candles and incense. It’s a whole production babe! If you’re going to exert any of your energy, then it only makes sense that you replenish it and invest in recovery time!”