Being A Soapie Star..

March 16, 2010 by Phathu

When news came in that Sisa Hewana won the Isidingo talent search competition, I found myself wondering if the guy knew what was in store for him. The reality is that many winners of these talent searches competitions tend to crack under pressure, when they realize that being a soapie star is not all about the SAFTAS and free VIP tickets to Sun City superbowl. I know many people who dream of being the next Karabo, Lucille or Sbu Vilakazi. But what does it take to do it?

How do you become the next soapie actor? Please, do not make the mistake of thinking that just because you have an agent, you are going to get acting gigs. People, you need to know how to act. Most aspirant actors always profess that they possess a natural acting talent, but so does everyone else that wants to get into the industry. What makes you stand out from other wannabes, who also think that they are born with the talent of acting? Training does, take a few acting classes – it will separate you from the mediocre that bores us to death at auditions.

The second step is to get into the books of a great casting agent in Jozi. What most soapies usually do when they are looking for new characters is to contact casting agents. They tell them what kind of actors they are looking for, age, race or culture, gender and all the details that go into the making of that character. The casting agents will go through their books and see how fits the requested profile. Your agent will call you and tell you about the role in Isidingo or Rhythm City that they want you to audition. Your agent might even provide you with the test script that you are going to do at the audition. So off you go to the audition, having spent the night memorizing the lines and asking your mother back in the homelands to pray for you, because this could be your big break.

I have sat through countless auditions, so I am going to tell you what not to do when you go to auditions.

First of all, do not be intimidated by the other actors there. They might be better looking or better dressed, but it’s talent they are looking for at that stage, not that a little beauty will hurt. Focus on your goal; you are there to give a performance of a lifetime.

You are most likely to be auditioned by a panel, which consist of the creative director, producer and a senior writer or headwriter. You will be asked to act out the scene with one of the major leads of the soapie. Do not get nervous, keep your cool and please do not get star struck, it annoys the actors, as they really do not like acting with armatures.

oubass

The second thing is to know the character you are auditioning for, your agent should provide that to you, it’s called a character biography. There is nothing embarrassing than rocking up to an audition dressed like a slut whereas they are looking for someone to play a nun.

Please, please know your lines, nothing bores the panel than someone who does not know their lines and if you do not know your lines in soapies, you will not last!

After the audition, hope for the best.

Let us say your mama’s prayers work and Generations hires you, you are going to be the next big thing in Mzansi. Before you think about the money and the fame, let’s get realistic – this is what you are going to be employed to do. Will you survive or burn like so many others before?

The call time, the time at which you are supposed to be reporting at studio is usually 6:30 am. When you get there, you still have to go through wardrobe, hair and makeup before hitting the studio. As a major character in a soapie, you are expected to shoot around 10 -15 scenes per day, which is a lot of pages considering that each scene can run from a page and half to two pages. That means you spent the previous night not drinking at Capellos, but reading your lines. Shooting of soapies usually ends around 5 pm, but contractually you can be bound in studio until 7 pm! And you say acting is easy…lol

The kissing scenes, yes they a real. Locking lips with someone who is not your spouse or partner is part of your daily job. I know of a female actress in one of the soapies who is hissing and puffing because she is tired of kissing her on screen husband, all I wanted to say was – steamroll! And no, those clothes do not belong to you.

I find that the mistake most young actors make when given a bigger role in a soapie is to assume that they are now on par with major leads actors in the soapie. Just because you spend the whole day shooting scenes with Katlego Danke or KB does not make you their friend.

An aspirant actress becomes over excited to be working with these stars, that they start to assuming they are now BFF with them. Toe the line and accept that they won’t be inviting you to their house for braai or shopping in Hyde Park. I know of an aspirant actress who was fired because she pissed off most of the lead actors, always wanting to hang out with them or trying to find out what they did on weekends. You are there to act and focus on that.

When you are a lead actor in a soapie, you can make a decent living – actually a good living. Most lead actors are contracted to a soapie for a season, which is renewed annually. A contract with a soapie means that whether they use you or not, they will pay you at the end of the month. That is why most lead actors in soapies always have storylines. What is the point of paying someone sixty thousand rands per month and have them sitting at home doing nothing. Contract means you are safe with the show, this is the elite club – it is when you have made it.

Most minor characters are given a call rate contract; this basically means that they will pay you a fee for coming to studio that day. This is a tricky one and most actors hate it, but producers love it as it saves them money. What is the point of giving Gladys a contract when she appears in six episodes per month? What soapies do is that they will offer you certain amount for coming to studio, it does not matter if they shot 12 or 22 scenes with you on Monday, they will pay you a single rate for that day. So poor Gladys can shoot all her scenes in one day and they can just edit them inside the entire block on the upcoming twenty episodes! As you might know soapies are not shot in a chronological order.

There is much more to becoming a soapie actor than just reading your lines and looking pretty, so you have to know what is in store for you before you do it. Having spent some time with actors, they will tell you that it is the best job in town, they love it and please – they all love it when you scream for them at malls. If this is your thing, go do it.

By Phathu Makwarela ©

Heee i never heard BS’ story of finishing iDrink bt um kwakwaring coz i did that my self on RC 2years ago and the floor manager asked me ‘Where’s yo drink i gave u? and i said i drank it up and he shouted ‘YOU SHOULDN’T DRINK OR EAT WHEN I SAID CUT’ and he filled up the glass again and gave someone else.

Back to the topic: mna i attended Tshisa auditions 2yrs back for Pushy role and i managed to act iProblem was the lines.

nan on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 2:03 pm

Must say hey
the guy is so sexy , and just watching the auditions last week left my mouth open

all thats left now is to ensure that he buffs up a lil more
don’t like extra meat on a man as the camera has a tendency to add a mite more
he he eh e

Lela on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 2:28 pm

Lol @Bee,that’s axactly what happened to BS.

Sweet-Ash on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 2:37 pm

Hahahahahahahaha @Bee… You must have been left umathile cos I can imagine being shouted at infront of everyone…

Cheesa on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 2:51 pm

I liked Sisa he was great. When I was watching him doing his scenes it was like I’m watching Isidingo already. His perfomance was great now I can’t wait for his first episode. I wish they alert us so I can know when to switch to SABC3. Now me acting tjo I have never even done it in those school. But now I think I can do it as a challenge to see what I can do heheh. Now BS and Bee didn’t you know azityiwa ii-props unless you are told so LOL I have a picture of you goqozing those drinks LOL.

fabulicious on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 3:40 pm

off topic: guys what is a silent or ghost blogger? N y do ppl feel the need to tell us?
*im asking coz i think I’m one* lol

Molok_ma on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 3:51 pm

okay, that was a long but interesting read. i’ll stick to my day job , thank you….

JustMwa on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 3:55 pm

i still think my talent lies in acting, only if i concentrated to it in my teen years, too old to run around doing auditions

ntshepeng on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 4:00 pm

@Fabulicious i think if you post a comment and we can all SEE it, that rules out ghost blogging LOL.

As for silent bloggers, those are the type that log in DAILY, read EVERYTHING but don’t comment. They may come out of the woodworks occassionally (never sure abt spelling) when they really wanna say smthng.

Then you have abo NONKAWU, who guard JC….they are here DAY AND NIGHT kwa kwa kwa kwa. Love u Noks!

mama ka Gundi on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 4:03 pm

Really Fabolicious what is the need its not like we notice coz i see new names every day …eish justa brown bread moment nothing fascinating nothing u can change just NJE MOMENT!!

J-Girl aka MsGreat on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 4:21 pm

Yeah the Sisa guy was great…
He once went to my friend’s house and was overheard saying “where is the rest of the house?”

Se2 on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 5:27 pm

Off t .David is leavin RC at last,thank god,pew!

Silent Blogger on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 6:42 pm

Haha…..Meme looks different

lwandie on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 7:16 pm

kwa kwa kwa @ Bee no B.S for chowing props lol only Nollywood actors and actresses finish and klara their plates in one scene….random observation…ghost bloggers generally resurect in those touchy,feely,iffy,raw nervish topics and then return to their deep slumber …juss sayn’

fabulicious on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 7:26 pm

thanx Ntshepeng! n u Lwandie (btw r u one of those?)
I wonder wat the use of being silent is bt on the flip side its better to shut up than to speak nonsense like those ppl who cum up accusing ppl of things they have no proof of.
*one half of me’s goin to b a ghost blogger from now on

Lwandie on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 8:13 pm

lol @fabulicious nope I’m no a ghost blogger,I keep it very real here….that was like I said a random observation because I only ever see those self declerations of being GBs and SBs in the type of topics I mentioned above.

MaGeza1 on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 8:57 pm

Great work Phathu…nice one!

MaGeza1 on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 9:00 pm

Off the topic, whr is Sisanda and Bonnie Henna?

fabulicious on Tue, 16th Mar 2010 9:19 pm

@Mageza1 uzobenzani??

sponono on Wed, 17th Mar 2010 8:55 am

LOL at BS and her one line @ Society…This is Lelo Boyana reporting live from what what”…SMH BS how difficult is THAT!!!!

I was also in some drama where the extras wre REAL shebeen regulars with phuza faces and we had dragged them on their way to some sheebeen and they were so thirsty they kept drinking the props luckly the beer bottles are dark..BUT they started to get loud when they were supposed to whisper/mime…LOL that was hilarious..but i guess if they keep re-shooting a scene and you are really thirsty / hungry you’d be tempted..

Silvio on Wed, 17th Mar 2010 12:10 pm

Phathu uyandichaza:)!

Nogs on Thu, 18th Mar 2010 2:04 pm

Phatu could you please tell us how to get news reading jobs on SABC, they hardly advertise to the public unlike the E-TV. Thanks.

666 on Fri, 19th Mar 2010 9:18 pm

ktkkp(ka tshega kabe ka phinya) @ ur comments kwaaaaaaaaaaa…I was once an extra on generations and it was an awful experience and never again!

snazzy on Thu, 22nd Apr 2010 2:29 pm

Dont forget the long hours!!!!
But i still loved every minute of shooting adverts!!!

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Being A Soapie Star..

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