RISING actress Ayakha Ntunja never thought her life would lead her towards acting.
She got into acting by mistake.
Although she has bagged roles in shows such as MTV Shuga, Intlawulo and now Youngins on Showmax, she never thought she’d be an actor.
The 20-year-old from Gqeberha in Eastern Cape said once she fell in love with acting, she had to beg her dad to take her to an acting school.
“I actually fell into acting, theatre to be specific, by mistake. A friend of mine dragged me to an audition and said 'listen, we just need to fill a role'. From there, I fell in love with the space and the environment and by the time I knew it, I convinced my dad I wanted to go to National School of the Arts.
“I was like, this is what I want to do. I want to create art, I want to create movies and want people to watch me, even if it's one person. It might sound cliche, but I feel like it was the moment when I started knowing that this can change people’s perspectives about a lot of things,” she said.
She's just bagged a new role as Amo Mosweu on Showmax’s new show, Youngins. The drama series is set in a fictional boarding school named Olifantsfontein High.
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Ayakha said the show’s synopsis made her audition for a role.
“What attracted me to the show was the fact that I wanted to work on a project that's youth-based. We all wanted to put our all into it and gave our best. I feel that’s exactly why I got into Youngins and I couldn’t be happier,” she said.
This is the young actress’ first leading role, and she’s excited that things are finally coming together.
“Because this is my first lead role, and it's truly been a journey of learning and experience. The pressure is intense, but I'm having fun. I'm thrilled to finally give my all. What's unique about this project is how we've come together to create magic.
“We're committed to producing something that people can watch years down the line, something they can watch over and over again because it's that good. I'm excited to see it all come together,” Ayakha said.
