Dancing to his dream
Ray Neo Buso reveals what makes his character Zee tick, his on-set bestie and what his audition was like.
It’s almost been a year since Zakhele aka Zee arrived in Hillside and how his character arrived in 7de Laan is still one of actor Ray Neo Buso’s favourite storylines. “It was dramatic and fabulous! Zee was waiting at the bus stop and he was jumped by these guys and beaten up,” explains the 27-year-old actor. “Viewers didn’t know him and it was definitely not a homophobic attack. Instead, the people who beat him up were doing a school initiation and they had to go at someone.” And that’s where Zee and Ray found their 7de Laan besties. “Uys (Daniel Coetzee) saw what happened and he tried to save Zee. They instantly bonded,” says Ray, adding that “Daniel and I auditioned at the same time and we rehearsed together. We also share a dressing room,” says the actor.
MOVING IN & UP
Zee has dreams of making it big, explains Ray. “He never went to varsity but he wants the glamorous life. He’s interned at events company Bruynwaves and is Alexa (Carina Nel) and Fikani’s (Nicholas Chauke) manny [man nanny] for their baby son. He’s totally faking it ’til he makes it and he leads this perfect life on social media,” adds Ray. There is one thing that Zee wants most in life – and Ray agrees. “He just wants love. I’d like to see Zee happy. Everyone in the young group has a partner except him. Zee sometimes avoids Uys since he has a crush on him. Zee is fighting feelings for Uys, so not being near him is easier on his heart for now.”
RIGHT PLACE & TIME
Ray is a newbie to acting and got his first role as Ash on Skeem Saam (see p 18) back in 2021. “I’m a dancer and was in Germany when Covid came. They said, ‘get home to SA or there’s the potential of being stuck there for who knows how long’. I came home and auditioned for Skeem and was cast,” explains Ray, adding that the SABC1 soapie is filmed at the same studio as 7de Laan in Joburg. “My agent got the brief for Zee and he was very different physically to me – he was meant to be a little shorter, a bit chubbier. I sent in a self-tape, then did a screentest with Daniel – we didn’t know that our characters were going to interact on the show – and the rest, as they say, is soapie history!”