It's vintage Lillian Dube on a fine Wednesday afternoon as we chat about her latest project Taryn and Sharon.

The loveable acting matriarch raps me on the knuckles when I ask her what attracted her to the comedy series.

"You make it sound like I have a choice... There is no work," she shoots from the hip. "But more than that, I was available and it was almost like playing myself. I worked in the kitchens for R80 a month in Linden. What's different now is that even though I play the maid, I do what I like and call the shots.

"My boss is funny, the kids are naughty and I let them be because they are just like me."

Dube portrays the authoritarian MaLillian who is Taryn's nanny in the new SABC3 comedy starting tonight at 7.30pm.

The show tells the story of two childhood friends, Taryn (played by Melissa Haiden), and Sharon (played by Amanda du Pont) who are now over 30 and on the hunt for rich, handsome and agreeable husbands to marry and make babies with.

Since their graduation they haven't done much real and honest work. They fancy themselves web-based social entrepreneurs and spend their days cooking up flippant campaigns to get into exclusive events in the name of "networking" and meeting eligible bachelors.

Dube relishes the fun that comes with playing MaLillian.

"I think the writers were thinking of me when they wrote the script. I just saw that she's exactly like me. She doesn't take anything lying down. But in my days as a maid, it was just [a submissive] 'ja baas' [yes boss]."

Dube counts on her experience to pull off the tricky genre of comedy. However, she says the writing is critical too.

"It starts with the script and understanding it well. I don't like slapstick, I like situational comedy. The big thing is timing there, comedy is difficult."

She brings the flair and skill that got audiences laughing in comedies like Mponeng, Skwizas and City Sesla.

"This time I love that I'm playing my own name, not that I mind when people call me by my character. But this comedy is fun and there is some good acting, I worked with brilliant actors."

Also in the cast are Fiona Ramsey who plays Sandy, Muzi Mthembu is Fabian while Russel Savadier is Gary.

Dube sobers me up as she points out some hard truths about being an actor in South Africa.

"Did you see SAA is getting a bailout? But SABC is not bailed out and we are owed a lot of money. It's hard being an actor. We have no medical aid or pension fund and are not regarded as workers yet we are taxed 25%.

"We can't get loans because we're told we are not employed. We didn't shoot Skwizas this year. We're only doing it next year and it has been halved to 13 instead of 26, can you imagine how many actors will be affected by this? It's difficult, but we enjoy what we do because it's our passion."

Not one to wallow in self-pity, she picks up the mood with her parting shot. "I love laughter, it's a medicine, but if you laugh for nothing you need medicine."