SA Actor Shares Success Story
Spira Tlhankane | Monday October 8, 2018 12:03
Speaking as a panelist during the first ever Hope of Stars film, TV, Visual and performing arts symposium SK, as he also known, told the upcoming actors to use what works for them. “I have been blessed to be given characters that I own and give my best performance for,” he said. He said as an actor he has realised that life is an audition and he never stops auditioning.
“I audition to stay because characters get killed in the show because of poor performance,” he said. Khoza added that because he did not go to school to study acting, therefore he improvises by not reading scripts.
“It works wonders for me. I have to translate English into Zulu and I love doing things in my own language because words come out easily,” he highlighted. He said there has never been any time in his career where he had doubted his performance.
Khoza said he sees himself a re-actor because he owns his Shaka character in The Queen. “Shaka is the most hardworking character in that show. He is five different guys in one,” he said. He advised the actors to never get comfortable even after getting their big break. “TV doesn’t care about you and what you did in the past, you are as good as your current performance,” he said.
Khoza, who is also a television presenter best known for hosting such shows as Mzanzi Ridez and Goal Diggerz said he now knows that his story works for him. He thanked his brother, Abdul for inspiring him to get into acting. The symposium that was organised by local film school, AFDA was also graced by Johnson Otlaadisa of Bandleng drama series and Signed International talent search.
He told the attendants to be very clear on why they were getting into TV and Film. He explained that sponsors don’t just jump into any project. “The government and corporate companies are not visionaries, so you have to blow first and that’s when they would come on board.”
He told the audience, which included students from AFDA, to stay humble and knock on doors. “Earn your stripes and be consistent until they notice you,” he concluded.
Taole Entaile best known for hosting the Back 2 Skul bash years ago, also gave an insight about substance abuse in the creative industry and how it affects productivity. He said he had seen a lot of good and promising brands go down because of substance abuse.
“People that we looked up to are now struggling on the streets,” he said.
He advised the audience to protect their talents and never let habits take over. For her part on creative investment Moitshepi Chalashika from Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) said there were so many opportunities in the creative industry and more corporate companies putting money looking for returns.
“People are starting to see the light, investors want to see the value and potential in something they want to put their money into,” she said. She said investors are in for the long term, therefore creatives have to change their mindsets and think the long-term route.