Mzansi actress Connie Chiume doesn’t usually take her characters home, so to speak.
Mamokete Khuse, her character on Rhythm City, is different. She’s taken Mamokete home with her for the past nine years!
“Mamokete is like me. She’s a loving and caring mother, a protective wife and lover of the community,” said Connie.
“This is what I do in my house and community. People call on me when they have problems. I’m like a social worker.”
Connie, who’s been in the industry for 42 years, said the craft taught her discipline, passion and humility.
“I know my lines and work well with the crew,” she said.
Connie first appeared professionally on stage in Sola-Sola in 1977.
“I understudied Thandi Klaasen. The show took us to Israel and Greece,” she said.
Her first TV role was that of Nomsa on Izihlabathi Ziyagqibana. She’s just returned from the New Orleans Jazz Festival, to which, with the help of the department of arts and culture, she took crafters and dancers to show America that Africans have talent.
She was born in Welkom, Free State, to a Malawian dad and South African mum. She calls herself a “Salawian.”
