Storyline personal for 7de Laan star

A SURREAL FEELING: Annelize van der Ryst-Hattingh as Matrone Netta in SABC's award-winning Afrikaans soapie, 7de Laan.

A SURREAL FEELING: Annelize van der Ryst-Hattingh as Matrone Netta in SABC's award-winning Afrikaans soapie, 7de Laan.

Published Oct 12, 2015

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Veteran actress Annelise van der Ryst-Hattingh has been with 7de Laan for 13 years – and this is the first time a storyline has hit so close to home for her, writes Debashine Thangevelo

CANCER is an indiscriminate disease. Everyone has either been affected by it personally or knows of someone who has.

So when tasked to play a character with cancer, an actor has to be informed on the disease and its impact on a psychological as well as physical level. After all, an authentic performance is dependent on that understanding.

And veteran actress Annelise van der Ryst-Hattingh certainly did her homework. But aside from that, she was emotionally invested in telling Matrone Netta’s story as it was a tribute to her close friend, who recently died from cancer. And a family member was also diagnosed with the disease.

In her 13 years with 7de Laan, her character has become well-loved for being bolshie and a busybody.

A very gracious Van der Ryst-Hattingh shares: “You won’t believe it. The time that I was filming this storyline, my very dear friend was putting up her final fight. It really got to me, so much so that, at times, I didn’t want to go to the hospital to visit her. I just didn’t have the guts to see her deteriorate – and I’m a strong person. It was hard having to act on screen…

“I dedicated my performance to her; we buried her on Monday (last week). She is a mother of two children. Her husband was so broken. And they just have to go on now. She really put on a mighty fight,” she continues.

Then, it also hit closer to home.

“Sadly, in our own family, at this time – maybe it’s the planets – we had a little girl diagnosed with cancer. She is only five. She’s not doing fantastically, but she’s been amazing.”

The actress notes: “It’s a terrible disease. It also attacks the hair, which is a woman’s pride and joy. I remember saying to my production team: ‘We can’t fake it’. So I shaved my hair. I wanted to show my support in a way. By the end of the shoot, when I had to continuously shave my hair – I realised that it is not who we are as women. But I also know that it is important.”

Interestingly, this is her second-biggest storyline with the soap.

She offers: “It’s been an interesting journey and I have always tried to give a bit of dimension to the character, so that she doesn’t stay one-sided. Yes, she is nasty to Hilda all the time. But she has a compassionate side when it comes to the younger ones. And the writers started writing accordingly, too. My first biggest storyline was with Trudie Taljaart, a well-known and brilliant actress. She played my sister. Unfortunately, she succumbed to cancer.”

Last week, Ryst-Hattingh attended the Hush Puppies Pink Shoe High Tea Party, where she got to meet some truly remarkable women.

She notes: “I was so humbled by these survivors. The wonderful Lilian Dube was also there. She just had a mastectomy. I’m in awe of all these people. So you can imagine, I feel a bit pressured to portray an individual who has cancer. I want to play her convincingly, so that people can identify with her.”

Thankfully, the 7de Laan writing department as well as the head writer left no stone unturned in learning all they could before etching Matrone’s emotional journey.

She shares: “There was thorough research done. I didn’t even know there were different types of breast cancer. I also researched too, thank heavens for social media and the internet.”

She also accidentally stumbled across an Akubra pink hat, which was made in commemoration of well-known cricketer Glenn McGrath’s late wife, Jane McGrath, at a South African store.

She recalls: “I was having breakfast with a friend. After we came out, we saw this Australian store. I liked the shape of their hats and I said to her: ‘I know they are going to shave my hair, I need to think about a hat. We were looking at these lovely Panama hats and lo and behold, there was this pink hat. I didn’t know it had anything to do with cancer.”

Being the Google expert that she is, she looked it up and found out more about the history behind it as well as a picture of Shane Warne wearing one.

She admits: “Does he look sexy, my goodness. He is too sexy for words!”

And the 7de Laan team got the actress the hat that she was eyeing.

In the meantime, viewers will get to see Hilda soften around Matrone, now that she knows of her poor health. But don’t go expecting them to be BFF’s anytime soon.

l 7de Laan airs on SABC2 on weekdays at 6.30pm.

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