Actress Thandeka Qwabe returns to South African TV screens with her new role on Uzalo.
Thandeka stars as Philile Thabethe, Sipho’s biological mother, who abandoned him and went on to live her own life. The mother and son had an emotional reunion that was nowhere warm.
According to IOL, the role was reportedly nerve-wrecking for the actress. This is a big difference from Thandi, the gentle, meek, and loving character she played on Isibaya as Bekhumuzi’s (Melusi Mbele) love interest. Philile’s character, in contrast, is cold and self-serving.
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Thandeka claims having felt a lot of pressure to perform well in the role of Philile, as she not been on daily television since Isibaya.
Having no experience playing a married mother with a family, she turned Olivia Pope’s character on the Fix for inspiration.
“She’s a very strong character but at the same time, she plays her anger very subtly and you just never know what she is thinking next. So I had to do a lot of research to get into the character because just to connect to the character,” she said.
“Myself as Thandeka, I grew up with so much love and I couldn’t really personally relate to the story. And it’s just amazing to see how a lot of people are relating to it, especially men that have been left to raise young children,” she added.
Thandeka’s character will be featured on the show for a couple of months.
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