Over four decades after his debut as a professional actor‚ Owen Sejake is one of the most recognisable faces in the industry‚ who has lived through different "eras" and has managed to stay relevant.
Owen told TshisaLIVE that he made his debut as an actor on stage in 1976 during the height of the struggle against apartheid. Owen said that after he read a few books‚ he decided that acting would be his way of contributing to the fight for equality.
"When I started‚ what we were doing was called revolutionary theatre and that was a time when a lot of things were going on. We were acting to give the mirror image in other words to conscientise the public and encourage them to see themselves through what we were portraying on stage."
Now‚ 41 years later Owen said that he's lived through different "eras" in both the country and the acting industry.
He said living through the transition from theatre to television in the 80s was the most "stressful" for actors who were often conflicted. Owen said that black peoples' stories were "owned and narrated" by white people at the time.
"Irrespective of our different custom and cultures‚ as actors (representing the) black nation we wanted to be respected and also (to) be united. We wanted everyone to share their stories in an attempt to bring together the different tribes apartheid had successfully separated."
The actor said the industry had witnessed both good and bad changes but there were still a lot of issues that needed attention.
"The other issues (are) things like being dominated by white people who always wanted the bigger slice on the cake and it is still happening today. It is worse when they're taking advantage of the 'politics of the stomach' that seems to drive most young people and we are struggling to do anything about it."
Owen started his career on the theatre stage and has featured on plays such as Athol Fugard's Captain's Tiger‚ Prophets in the Sky and Marabi. When he branched into television and film he featured in productions such as Tsotsi‚ Ocean Harvest‚ Soul City‚ Yizo Yizo to mention a few.
He's currently on the latest Ferguson Film production The Imposter.