South African creatives are tapping into African folklore and history for TV offerings.
Viewers recently got to witness this in Akin Omotoso’s “The Brave Ones” and there is plenty of hype around Mzansi Magic’s upcoming epic drama “Shaka Ilembe”, which hits the small screen next year.
In the meantime, “Blood Psalms” is impressing critics and streamers alike.
More so as it stays authentic to the storytelling, especially with a script that stays true to the mother tongue.
And Thando Thabethe is a vision in her role as the Emissary of Heka, which is unlike anything we’ve seen her play to date.
For those who have caught the first few episodes of this most ambitious Showmax Original undertaking, she is seated on a throne, eyes, completely black, with her hair as this halo green fire, with a snake balanced on her shoulders.
To date, Thabethe has proven herself as a formidable actress with roles in a wide gamut of projects, including “Reyka”, “Housekeepers”, “Generations: The Legacy”, the “How To Ruin Christmas” franchise and “The Right Guy”.
The 947 radio DJ also hosted TLC’s talk show, “Thando Bares All”, proving her versatility.
“Blood Psalms”, which is co-created by Layla Swart and Jahmil XT Qubeka (“Of Good Report”, “Sew the Winter to my Skin” and “Knuckle City” fame), boasts the crème de la crème of Mzansi’s talent including Hlubi Mboya, S’dumo Mtshali, Siv Ngesi, Warren Msemole, Hamilton Dlamini, Zolisa Xaluva, Richard Lukunku, Sello Maake KaNcube, Zikhona Sodlaka and Thabo Rametsi, to name a few.
The series, which is set in ancient Africa, broke records for the streaming platform as the show with the most first-day views, surpassing that of “Game of Thrones”, “Steinheist” and “Devilsdorp”.
Back to Thabethe, she unpacked her role in the series and admitted to being blown away by the script.
She shared: “I play the emissary of god Heka. She is responsible for foretelling everybody’s future. If you've seen the trailer, she's the narrator of everything happening in the actual story.
“She has that almost scary look, that makes you wonder if she's good or evil. But I find it interesting that the messenger is female and that the story is giving power to women.”
The actress added: “I thought, ‘Wow, what an ambitious project’. To see that South Africans are now producing television on this scale is just incredible.
“I remember the first day on set, I was like, ‘Where am I?’ It's nothing I've ever seen in my 15 years of working on television. It's exciting because it shows that we are moving on to the next level.”
This show was filmed in the middle of winter so it wasn’t easy to be half-naked the entire time. But the most daunting thing about her role was being draped with this giant anaconda.
She admitted: “Over and above that, on my first day on set, I was with a giant anaconda. I won't say I was scared of it but I definitely won't have one in my house. That was a challenge in itself.
“Also, snakes don't coil in winter, so you have to be up close and personal with them for them to do what you require them to do. Then on the second day, I swear there were about 50 snakes on the floor, which was crazy.”
As Thabethe continues to tick boxes in her career, one thing is evident, the sky is the limit for the actress as she cements her career in Mzansi.
“Blood Psalms” is streaming on Showmax.