Since quitting her job as a creditor’s clerk at Hyundai in 2013 to focus on building the future she has always envisioned for herself, Angela Sithole’s acting career has gone from strength to strength. She’s starred in Mzansi Magic’s Zabalaza, e.tv’s Hustle and is now set to star in the romantic drama, All About Love, which is set to be released across the country today.
When Tonight called Sithole to chat about her role in the film, she was on set shooting a new project that’s due to come out next month. She didn’t reveal any details about what she is working on, but insisted that it’s a big project which will see her exploring a different kind of role from what she’s accustomed to.
She’s generating more and more work and is keen to build on this momentum. Her role in All About Love came by surprise: “Adze (Ugah, the film’s director) just called and said, ‘I see you playing this role. Please can you do it?’,” she explained. “I fell in love with my character, Jennifer, because she’s full of drama and she brings drama to the film. She seeks comfort and she’ll do anything to get that because she doesn’t come from a well-off background. She’ll do what she needs to do to get by. She’s sneaky and she’s very slick.”
Sithole hasn’t watched the film yet and is nervous to find out how she fared when she sees it on the big screen today. I asked her to give us some insight into what the film is all about: “The film is exactly what the title says: it is all about love and it shows you different ways of loving. For example, Jennifer doesn’t know anything about love. She’s never really experienced or been through that. Then there’s Katlego (Danke) who plays the lovelorn Sarah, a woman in love with her best friend. So there are different dimensions and the film shows you different kinds of love.”
Sithole also learned a lot from Ugah, who last year directed the popular rom-com Mrs Right Guy. “I’ve worked with him before and he’s such a lovely person to work with. I love the fact that he focuses on actors, he’s an actor’s director. He’ll make sure that he gets things right. He’ll never move on to the next scene without knowing that he’s satisfied or I’m satisfied with the scene we’ve just shot. He brings out the best in me.”
Danke mirrored Sithole’s sentiment: “It was absolutely awesome working with him. I love, love, love Adze. He’s an actor’s director and my favourite directors in the world are actor’s directors because, at the end of the day, the actor is the one that must put together all the work of the different departments that come together to make a film. And he is the one person who will allow you that creative licence, he will guide you and make sure you’re completely comfortable to be able to do what you need to do.”
For Sithole, one of the highlights of filming was being part of such a diverse cast of actors from all around Africa. She aims to make a name for herself across the continent. She has also taken a liking to the directing process and can see herself venturing into it in the future.
As she continues to make waves in the industry, she’ll carry on chipping away at the stereotype that she’s just another pretty face who stumbled on TV thanks to her good looks. She says: “That’s not me. I want to act. I want to be challenged. Give me something that pushes me.”