"Uzalo" fans have been waiting for Thursday night as MaNgcobo (Lindiwe) is set to wed Khathaza.
This is the second wedding plot on the show and if it’s anything compared to the first, the rating could fly through the roof. Creative director, Brenda Mukwevho said the Uzalo team has always aimed high in terms of viewership.
"We always put our best foot forward and are always aiming very high when it comes to our viewership and the loyalty that we always receive from our viewers. This time around again we have no reason to not believe that this wedding will pull great numbers too. We as Uzalo are grateful for each and every person who takes their time to watch Uzalo every day.
We chatted to Dawn Thandeka King, who played the character MaNgcobo, a resilient middle aged woman who has found a second chance at love.
While she refused to give away the plot, she did tell us about her passion for the role.
You’ve been on the show since inception, how do you keep your passion for this role alive?
Each season has different challenges for me. Since the beginning of the story, I’ve had different partners every season and for me that nice because it’s different energies and different angles of the story.
Each time I meet someone I have to approach it in a different manner, depending on the person they are and the energy we share. It’s very important to establish chemistry with the person that you’ve been partnered with so that you can work in a particular way. So this is my fifth season and I can never compare old partners but they have all given me something to work with and it’s been exciting.
How do you look at your character?
What’s interesting for me is that the viewers are very personal with my character. The stories that she has gone through, they have personalised them. They have made her their own property and when she goes through experiences, they go through the experiences with her and that pushes me to give off my best in that storyline.
I never feed off the viewers' responses but rather give them what the character is going through.
Viewers in South Africa are very intelligent in that they understand it’s just a portrayal of a character and they appreciate it.
How have you developed as an artist over the years?
I have learnt to take it one storyline at a time. It is very difficult to play one character for a very long time so you have to make sure that when a storyline is given to you or pitched to you for a season you understand that you can not approach it like the previous storylines.
This particular storyline is different in that she has had to adapt to very subtle energy about him, but under that energy is something very dangerous which he gives, which she is very familiar with.
She is not aware of it at this point but they match in that when she discovers the dark side, she will not freak out and run. She’ll want to work with the dark side. But if she is pushed into a corner, she will always get out.
"Uzalo" is the most watched show on SABC, how do you handle the pressure and fandom?
Since season one it's been a whirlwind. You almost lose who you are. You become public property. You can only have your time when you are indoors in your own house. You can not go shopping freely, it does affect the family, but we also have to be very tolerant of it and understand that people love what we do so we appreciate it.