TV newcomer Siyabonga Raymond Sepotokele can hardly contain his excitement about his huge TV debut this past Monday.
Sepotokele stars in the new SABC2 telenovela Keeping Score.
And a few hours before we breeze through our telephone conversation this week, he underwent a physiotherapy check-up and the doctor gave him the "all clear".
This is after he was involved in a minor car crash. Not even that can dampen his jubilant spirit over his big TV break after he was plucked from the streets and an audition process of more than 1000 hopefuls. "I'm fine. This guy drove into us on my way to work. It was just whiplash. It was unexpected ... traffic was moving slowly, everything was relaxed and out of the blue he drove into us. I got a bit of a shock," Sepotokele recounts.
In Keeping Score, the 20-year-old portrays Lehasa Letsie, the smarter and cleverer son to Sonia Mbele's conniving character Mmamosa. Solomon Sebothoma plays the other not-so-sharp brother Tladi. He maintains that he is having the time of his life playing a bad boy ready to wreak havoc and raise hell.
"Lehasa's a smooth and suave guy with morals of a street cat. He has inherited his mother's sex appeal, charm and brain for money. He's promiscuous and [as] amoral as hell. He's a friendly, venomous snake," Sepotokele explains.
"I love playing this role. It gives me an opportunity to play around because there are so many dimensions to it. One thing I love about him is that we are polar opposites."
The show boasts a mix of established names and unknowns.
"I met everyone a week prior to shooting. We had these workshops in studio. So when I got there the first day, we had Sonia, she was like my childhood crush. Then we had Solomon and Nicholas Nkuna. They were all people that I've come across on television and now I get to work with them."
The Orlando East, Soweto-born neophyte is a classically trained opera singer, whose singing talent was discovered at 13 years of age. Sepotokele admits that he's nervous about how he is going to handle groupies and all. "One thing I've been nervous about is that with fame comes groupies. I think it will be weird when people start to recognise me on the street. But it's something that I've been praying about. I just need to keep my head down, smile and wave I guess."
Keeping Score is on SABC2, Mondays and Tuesdays on at 9pm
Siyabonga charts way to stardom
TV newcomer Siyabonga Raymond Sepotokele can hardly contain his excitement about his huge TV debut this past Monday.
Sepotokele stars in the new SABC2 telenovela Keeping Score.
And a few hours before we breeze through our telephone conversation this week, he underwent a physiotherapy check-up and the doctor gave him the "all clear".
This is after he was involved in a minor car crash. Not even that can dampen his jubilant spirit over his big TV break after he was plucked from the streets and an audition process of more than 1000 hopefuls. "I'm fine. This guy drove into us on my way to work. It was just whiplash. It was unexpected ... traffic was moving slowly, everything was relaxed and out of the blue he drove into us. I got a bit of a shock," Sepotokele recounts.
In Keeping Score, the 20-year-old portrays Lehasa Letsie, the smarter and cleverer son to Sonia Mbele's conniving character Mmamosa. Solomon Sebothoma plays the other not-so-sharp brother Tladi. He maintains that he is having the time of his life playing a bad boy ready to wreak havoc and raise hell.
"Lehasa's a smooth and suave guy with morals of a street cat. He has inherited his mother's sex appeal, charm and brain for money. He's promiscuous and [as] amoral as hell. He's a friendly, venomous snake," Sepotokele explains.
"I love playing this role. It gives me an opportunity to play around because there are so many dimensions to it. One thing I love about him is that we are polar opposites."
The show boasts a mix of established names and unknowns.
"I met everyone a week prior to shooting. We had these workshops in studio. So when I got there the first day, we had Sonia, she was like my childhood crush. Then we had Solomon and Nicholas Nkuna. They were all people that I've come across on television and now I get to work with them."
The Orlando East, Soweto-born neophyte is a classically trained opera singer, whose singing talent was discovered at 13 years of age. Sepotokele admits that he's nervous about how he is going to handle groupies and all. "One thing I've been nervous about is that with fame comes groupies. I think it will be weird when people start to recognise me on the street. But it's something that I've been praying about. I just need to keep my head down, smile and wave I guess."
Keeping Score is on SABC2, Mondays and Tuesdays on at 9pm
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