‘Television stories do not want old people,’ says Khotso Nkhatho
TV and film legend Khotso Nkhatho, who is famous for his roles in shows such as Mopheme, is struggling to get acting roles.
Nkhatho, who was honoured with a lifetime achievement award by the South African Film and Television Awards (Saftas) last year, after 40 years in acting, said he desperately needed to return to acting to feel whole again.
Speaking to Sowetan from his home in Ventersburg in the Free State, Nkhatho said he did not believe that getting the lifetime achievement award signalled the end of his acting career.
The 67-year-old said sometimes he felt like his soul had died a long time ago and only his body was alive.
The seasoned actor last appeared on television in 2018 when he got a cameo role in Rhythm City. He has been to many auditions but is yet to crack a role since.
Nkhatho, who is also a scriptwriter and author, spent years working as a drama producer at Lesedi FM.
He admitted that the television industry had changed and directors were targeting people who were popular on social media and young.
“Television stories do not want old people anymore. I’m wondering if it is my fault that I am old. If producers do not believe in casting old people, is there a world that exists without old people? That means the stories on television only cater for a certain age and exclude a certain age.
“When you go to auditions it is like going to a beauty contest,” he says.
The former schoolteacher, whose most famous role was in Mopheme, which currently plays on SABC Encore, said watching himself acting filled him with mixed emotions and made him melancholic.