As unique as her stage name, Six Nyamane is one of the freshest faces to grace our television screens with her new role as Nozipho Cele on SABC 1’s popular soapie, Generations: The Legacy.

Born Mpume , Nyamane is known for playing roles such as the sassy Buhle on e.tv’s Scandal!, the cutthroat Natasha on the comedy film Blessers and Amogelang on Rhythm City.     

“People always ask whether my real name is ‘Six’ and I always say ‘Yes’ because I tend to believe it is. I got that name from my days of playing provincial hockey and I played position six. With the team being so big, the coaches don’t have time to learn our names, so they refer us to the numbers on the pitch,” the actor explains.

“Even off the pitch, we as a team as well as the coaches, used to call each other by our numbers… and somehow we just kept our names and I kept mine despite pursuing an acting career.

“I started playing hockey in grade 4 up to matric. I stopped playing after moving to Johannesburg because I couldn’t find a team and besides, I truly don’t have the time – so I wouldn’t be able to keep up with practice, let alone the games.”

The 25-year-old mother to a three-year-old hails from Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal. She stumbled upon her love for acting in her first year at the University of SA (Unisa), and despite her love for her craft her mother was not quite fond of the idea that she was pursuing an acting career over academics.   

“I lived in Newcastle all my life and when I finished matric, I knew I had to come to the big city to pursue some sort of career. I had no plan when I arrived in the City of Gold because my family shut down the idea of me studying sports science or playing hockey professionally, all I knew is that I had to go to school,” she remarked.

“I remember looking around for schools but ended up in the same Unisa I initially didn’t want to study at. I studied finance for a couple of months but found myself uninterested in the course, so I started ditching classes for auditions – this is after a guy I met at the gym told me I had a face for television.

“I went to my very first audition and I got the role. I then chose to secretly shoot the film without my family knowing but somehow the school called my mother to inform her that I didn’t attend school or write my exam… to say my mother was furious with me is an understatement, she didn’t talk to me for two weeks.”

Nyamane continued honing her acting skills despite her mother’s wishes. She landed numerous roles and after her mother witnessed how passionate her daughter was about her craft, she eventually gave in.  

Nyamane first made her debut on the popular soapie late in December and while she was enthusiastic about playing her new role, embodying Nozipho seemed challenging and a bit complicated because her character is the daughter of Nkosiyabo Cele (played by Muzi Mthabela), who is a fearless journalist who sniffs out and exposes important stories, no matter the danger.

“I was a ball of nerves on my first day on set… it was a different environment with new actors that I didn’t know very well. Another thing I was worried about was the fact that I am going to play Nozipho for a very long time, so it was important for me to introduce her to the audience very well,” she adds.

“I didn’t want to be redundant or boring with my role, hence I value the importance of giving more to my character and learning about her every day. I also learn a lot from Muzi, whom I spend a lot of time exchanging dialogue with on set… come to think of it, I have sort of developed Nozipho to be just like his father.”