RED Ink for me ticked all the boxes.
These were the words of award-winning actress Lorcia Cooper Kumalo.
Lorcia, who was born and raised in Cape Town, trained as a dancer. Her first break into local television screens was on the e.tv show, Backstage.
In 2019, she won a Safta for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the series, Lockdown.
The 46-year-old said when she started out in the industry, she was very particular about what kind of artist she wanted to be, and she wanted to be an artist who would have an impact.
In a statement, she said: “As a dancer, I always wanted my work to touch someone. That was my bottom line all the time and the same applied to when I started becoming an actress.
“So, any story I take on I’d like it to have an impact. I always ask myself if this storyline will invoke some type of emotion and if the storyline makes the audience think beyond what they knew.'
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Lorcia currently appears on the Showmax series, Red Ink, which is an adaptation of Angela Makholwa’s thrilling debut novel, Red Ink.
She plays the fierce Detective Morapedi who is trying to catch Napoleon, who is played by Safta winner Bonko Khoza.
Red Ink tells the story of a journalist turned publicist, who is approached by an imprisoned serial killer to tell his story.
Talking about her role on the series, she said she had to figure out how to find a balance between finding her calm and figuring out why a character like Napoleon was so dark.
"It’s about finding that synergy. We all have a story in our lives and how we either respond or react to that story ultimately determines whether we stand on moral or immoral ground.
"So yes, I wanted to know what this person's (Napoleon) backstory is. But you cannot buy into their backstory so much that you end up having empathy for them because at the end of the day, there is a victim involved. I had to look at the facts about this character and who am I protecting, which is the victim,” she said.
