The talented Warren Masemola
SABC1’s Tjovitjo has the country glued to their screens. We sit down with one of its stars, Warren Masemola
GIVE him high heels, silk stockings and a feather boa and he’ll rock them effortlessly. Cover him in prison overalls and terrifying tattoos and he’ll become one of the most hard-core gangsters you’ve ever seen. Need someone to play a sappy bridegroom who tears up on command in a music video? He’s your guy. And if you’re looking for someone with a compelling voice to say “Give that man a Bell’s” in your whisky ad, he’ll rise to the occasion.
Nothing is impossible for this actor who treats life like a stage and adapts to every situation as effortlessly as a chameleon.
And right now Warren Masemola (34) is wowing South Africa in the biggest show on TV: SABC1’s Tjovitjo, the hardhitting drama series that drew a staggering 5,7 million viewers with its premiere episode in August, breaking records previously held by classics such as Yizo Yizo, Zone 14 and Tshisa.
The Soshanguve-raised star is no newcomer to the entertainment scene, having made his mark as an actor in hit TV shows including Intersexions, Ses’Top La, Scandal! and Ring of Lies, for which he’s nominated for Best Actor in this year’s YOU Spectacular awards.
In Tjovitjo – which revolves around the lives of a group of dancers – Warren plays Ma’Fred, the leader of a pantsula dance crew. And he’s one of the reasons why so many viewers are glued to their screens every week.
It’s hard to tear your eyes away from him when he’s on stage or on screen – or when he’s right in front of you, as we discover when he meets us at the Southern Sun lounge in Hyde Park, Joburg, wearing cropped jeans that show off his bright-red geometric-print socks.
We get to know this natural entertainer a little better.
THE NAME OF THE GAME
His real name is Montloana – a Ndebele name pronounced Mondlwana – but it’s mispronounced so often he decided to go with Warren.
It was obvious from early on he’d end up in showbiz. “I’ve always been expressive and different,” he says. “You know, my eldest sister was an altar server at church and I always tried on the gear she used to wear at home.
“It was just beautiful, a red dress-like outfit and top that looked like a crop top. I’d walk around the house and act like I was in church, blowing incense everywhere.”
His sense of humour, he says, comes from his mom “who’s full of jokes” and was honed by watching comedies on TV.
“I recorded all the episodes of Martin Lawrence’s show, In Living Color, and The Jamie Foxx Show and I’d impersonate all the different characters.”
BUT SERIOUSLY
Although he loves comedy, Warren takes the business of acting seriously and expects others to do the same.
“You’ll never hear anyone say, ‘I want to become a dentist today, I feel like taking out seven teeth,’ but you hear people in other professions saying, ‘I want to be an actor, I believe I’ve got it.’ People need to respect what we do,” he says. “It’s not a hobby.”
His love of languages and his ability to pull off a range of accents are what make him stand out.
“It’s my unique selling point. I’m fascinated by languages – which gives me a heart and not just an ear for accents. I think it really sets me apart – that and my preparation. I prepare intensely.”
That’s exactly what he did for his role in Tjovitjo where he’s required to rock those pantsula moves.
“I had to take many classes for hours on end – to the point where I had blisters,” he says.
The realism of the show is what drew him to it. “This has been my most challenging role to date,” he says. “So much of it is heartbreaking or hard to watch precisely because it’s so real.
“It focuses on the places and the people the country doesn’t normally see and it’s great to put a spotlight on that.”
HAIR TODAY . . .
At the age of six Warren was diagnosed with alopecia, a condition that causes hair-loss all over the body.
He received treatment for it but he was unhappy with how his hair grew back.
“It was spiky and uneven and my friends called me katsi [cat].”
The last time he had hair was in 1990. Because he has no eyelashes he often wears sunglasses to protect his eyes – not to hide from fans, he points out.
DIFFERENT PASSIONS
As talented an entertainer as he is, while in high school in Pretoria he imagined working in a very different field.
“I wanted go into the world of finance because I was passionate about accounting as a subject.”
But one of his cousins couldn’t see it. She knew her expressive, comedy-loving cousin would do well in the spotlight so she made him attend an audition at the Moving into Dance company in Newtown, Joburg.
“When they realised I didn’t have matric yet they said, ‘Go get your matric and then come back.’ And that’s when the bug bit,” Warren says.
BREAKING OUT
‘People need to respect what we do – it’s not a hobby’
He found his spiritual home when he was enrolled at the Market Theatre Laboratory, which offers courses in theatre and performance, in 2003 and 2004.
“I got on stage and found that that was where my spirit and soul were happiest. I found a home in drama, I found a place on stage.”
During his time there he was exposed to the work of greats such as Vusi Kunene, John Kani and Nthati Moshesh.
“As a drama student, seeing these people on stage and on TV and then seeing them in a film, made me believe acting isn’t a one-dimensional thing – that’s when I really believed that I could make this my career.”
PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN
Tjovitjo, which was originally planned as a feature film, was in the works for four years while producers battled to find backers for the show.
Money is a constant problem in showbiz in SA, Warren says. “Artists die poor. People may be glorifying the work I do now but chances are I might die poor and the same people glorifying me will say ‘he died poor’ and they’ll never go back and ask why.” It’s an issue that irks Warren. “South Africans need to support the industry so it can grow as big as it is in other countries.”
LOVE ME, LOVE MY MOM
In his downtime Warren watches movies, and he loves cycling. He also spends a lot of time with his mother, who turns 60 this year.
“I love my mother,” he says. “We do everything together – we gossip, we cook, we celebrate each other.”
The rest of the time he works hard to “bring as much change as possible” to the world and his industry.
“For as long as I breathe, I plan to contribute to the change in the world. And that will be my legacy.”