Sonia Sedibe has weathered a personal storm but, as the saying goes, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. And that’s where she is now: stronger and better, writes Debashine Thangevelo
IT’S been four years since Sonia Sedibe left Generations. But the media haven’t left her alone, especially with her divorce from her husband of eight years. And the rumours haven’t helped matters either.
When Tonight chatted to her, she was enraged about a recent magazine article.
She vented: “I don’t understand why it (her return to TV) is such a big deal. I don’t understand the hype. I had children to raise. It has reached the point where I’ve had to sit down and try to figure this out. It upsets me, especially when it’s negative, like a story saying I’m down-and-out and living in the townships. I am all over Instagram. Yes, I posted pictures of myself. But it doesn’t say where I am. For you (meaning the media) to ignore that and take the pictures of me visiting my mother in the townships…”
While the media can sometimes forget that celebrities are people too, Sedibe knows that it is also a compliment in a way. Relevance is synonymous with media interest.
Getting back to the interview, she says: “I was on Generations for a long time. You don’t want to do too much after as it could be overkill and you start becoming the same character.
“The only two people who can do that are Denzil Washington and Meryl Streep. I needed a break. Went through a heavy divorce that taxed me. I needed to breath, so I found a nice cottage, locked myself in and started writing.”
She also got involved behind the scenes with her production company. In fact, she was roped into co-producing the Real Housewives of Johannesburg: “The producer said he had the rights for the show. As we were working, it turned out that the licensing wasn’t there. I thought, ‘I didn’t want to be associated with a brand that is going to cause havoc and issues’ so I recused myself while we were still shooting. A while later, I learnt that they had changed the name of the show. I think they have since dissolved.”
Aside from running her production company, she is back in front of the camera in Gold Diggers. Shedding light on her character, Thuli Gumede, she reveals: “She is like Cookie from Empire. Very ghetto. Loves her man… obsessed with him, actually. She has shaped her life around him. They have this Bonnie-and-Clyde kind of con affair, too. When he decides to leave her, she goes: ‘F**k this’, and goes to claim her man.”
She is glad to be sharing the screen with Sibusiso Dlomo, her Generations co-star.
“We have this Richard Gere and Julia Roberts type of situation. We have built up a rapport. When we are on set, we have a way of unleashing the acting beast – bringing out the best in each other. We are good friends.”
Of the storyline, the actress hints: “The lines blur. At some point, you get confused as to who is conning who.”
On how she decided to approach the character, which was a dilemma as she is a mum with kids at school and didn’t want it to impact negatively on them, she threw caution to the wind.
“It was a moral dilemma. I could have played her as modest as possible or push the envelope. I decided on the latter, which surprised everyone.”
The actress is more concerned with giving her best performances and choosing work that excites her – and less interested in being part in the celebrity world: “There will always be roles, but you have to decide if it is the one.”
If her enthusiasm for her latest character is anything to go by, Sedibe has found the perfect fit!
Gold Diggers, e.tv at 8pm on weekdays.