Nolwazi Shange Ngubeni shares her next moves, post Scandal
Seasoned actress Nolwazi Shange Ngubeni is already busying herself, wearing the hat of a casting director for Mzansi Magic’s season two Umkhokha, while also preparing for a new role in an undisclosed production.
She bows out of eTV’s Scandal just after 19 months of gracing the screens as part of the Kubeka family, made up of other talented actors such as Fana Mokoena, Slindile Nodangal, Melusi Mbele, Sihle Ndaba, and Robert Mpisi.
The 39-year-old actress answers three questions about her time on Scandal.
How do you feel about your character ending?
I knew for a while now, since last year June and that gave me enough time to come to terms with it. But I also feel that it’s a matter of walking away from a character and ending it on your own terms before the audience drives you out, out of sheer boredom. Making the decision to end Mbali’s character while it was still hot was a good one but it ended right as the viewers were still anticipating more from it.
How did you channel Mbali the way you did?
I don’t know. I think the most important thing for me was to be honest to what is written. What the character is going through, what they are experiencing and what they want to say – in the subtexts. But also knowing and understanding everyone else’s roles within the story. I always walk around and ask actors about their characters so I understand where I fit in with that story. That’s my prep. I work well with instinct, paying attention to what everyone else is doing in real time and then responding to that.
How did you diversify yourself within the industry and what ‘s next for you?
What;s next is that I stepped into my role as a casting director for season two of Umkhokha in November, a week after I finished Scandal and I am also working on a Ndebele drama.
Working on Umkhokha has been fun. It is an extension of performance for myself which speaks to how crucial diversification is within our industry. I think very early on within my career, I was very clear with myself about where I wanted to go. When I was in my 20s, I got the opportunity to work at Quizzical Pictures and learnt about production which was invaluable for me because I came from a theatre background. There are a lot of things about TV I didn’t know at all, so now just understanding the production wheel and how far I can diversify I’ve learnt new passions within the industry of other departments that I wasn’t even acquainted with.