Eastern Cape-born Babalwa Ngese is shining her light alongside award-winning actors in a new telenovela, Champion.
The series, aired on Mzansi Magic, has a star-studded cast which includes Thembinkosi Mthembu and Sello Maake kaNcube.
Ngese said she always knew she was destined for the screen.
The new telenovela replaces the award-winning series The River.
The actress, who lived in different parts of the province while growing up, including Cacadu (formerly Lady Frere), Komani and Dutywa, and has a home in East London, described herself as a storyteller.
“I am a storyteller through performative art and the use of literature.
Stories have always been a part of most of our upbringing, be it in the form of intsomi or imitating those we did life with
“Stories have always been a part of most of our upbringing, be it in the form of intsomi or imitating those we did life with.
“It became important for my own sense of life to infuse those experiences into my storytelling.”
Ngese said she was initially nervous of the camera.
“Admittedly, I was afraid of the lens and its impositions, however, the duty to tell stories superseded that anxiety.
“Children’s plays such as umxoxiso and TV shows such as Kideo and Takalani Sesame played an integral part in my desire to tell stories through accessible mediums.”
She described auditioning for the role as nerve-racking.
“The audition was filled with its own nerves because it mattered that much.
“I, however, must say I got into a room with casting directors who have the ability to realise that sometimes how much you want something can be so scary so they were able to ease me to find the character.”
Ngase plays the role of Boitumelo, a side-chick to a popular soccer star, Ferrari, played by Thembinkosi Mthembu.
She said her character was the complete opposite to her.
“We definitely are worlds apart, she is too carefree.”
Ngese, who studied a BA in motion picture at Africa Film Drama Art (Afda), said she always knew she would be on TV one day.
“It was never an impossibility in my mind, just a matter of when and how.
“Be it as a production designer or performer, both were always going to appear on screen in their own way.
“I have been a little sceptical checking on the response both from a place of the anxiety around the kind of role I am playing and because it’s still early days and the story needs to unravel.
The actress has landed roles in Igazi season one as Malabo, played the role of Noxi in Isibaya, and as Aluta in The Herd.
However, one of the challenges faced by actors was not having a private life, she said.
“Besides having to authentically give life to a character, it is also that I am afraid of the access it grants people to one’s life and privacy.
“What’s interesting about being in front of the camera I don’t know?
“In the instance of performance, I can’t say anything besides that I get to be someone I am not and not be held accountable for anything even that which is viewed as moral or immoral by society.
“It’s not Babalwa and it never is, however, with other formats of screen work it will always be me, and that’s scary.
“What’s interesting are the binaries of responsibility and irresponsibility depending on the format,” she said.
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