Double trouble
Rhafiek’s twin Rhiyaaz arrives and he’s bringing drama.
Suidooster Mon-Thu kykNET (*144) 18:00
With Mymoena (Jill Levenberg) still in a coma following the car crash in March 2017 that killed Jerome (Danny Ross), her financial businessman son Rhiyaaz Samsodien (Anton Jeftha) returned to Ruiterbosch on Monday 24 April after having been overseas working in London since the show started in 2015. While Rhafiek (Irshaad Ally) is happy to see his sibling, he’s upset that it’s taken so long for Rhiyaaz to visit his ailing mom. And in a case of art imitating life, Anton too returned to SA from working in Los Angeles for the role. We chatted to him on the set.
What were you doing in LA? I’d been in the US for about a year wondering around the entertainment industry when the Suidooster team contacted me to play Rhiyaaz for a couple of weeks. I jumped at the opportunity because it also gave me the chance to see my family in the Cape again. Was it easy to get into the swing of the show? [Laughs] I got to Suidooster in February and the first day was rough! I was in the US [a whole other timezone] the day before. But when you’re thrown in the deep-end, you have to swim. But I felt right at home – when you’re an actor, you adapt. If not, the jobs dry up. We’ve never seen Rhiyaaz before… He has a twin but they’re as different as night and day. Don’t think that he’s going to be a goodie-two-shoes like Rhafiek. He’s a bad-boy and he was living it up as a successful businessman in London. Rhiyaaz is reckless but his family love him. He dropped the ball a bit and he lost his religious and family values. So is he back for good? I don’t think so. He sees his future oversees – Rhiyaaz thinks that he’s too big for Ruiterbosch. Is that why it took so long to come to his mom’s bedside? Partially, but he didn’t want to accept that she was in a coma. He didn’t want to face that truth. He was pretty broken up when he saw her for the first time on Tuesday 25 April… It was a huge shock for him. He wasn’t expecting to see her like that, with the tubes and pipes and stuff. He also doesn’t want to go to mosque with his dad AB (Cedwyn Joel). Rhiyaaz has lost his faith. Since living in London, he has changed his perspective on the Muslim way of life. And what are those pills that he’s popping on Monday 8 May? He has one or two bad habits… one of them is his addiction to medication that he’s now able to get from his father’s pharmacy without AB knowing.