THAPELO Mokoena is not the usual nice guy on new Showmax series, Pulse.
Thapelo, a South African Film and Television Award-winning actor and businessman, is best known for playing the character Axe in Nothing For Mahala and Dumile in Mrs Right Guy.
Pulse is a Showmax Original horror series launching on Thursday, 23 June.
Thapelo, who was born in Ladysmith in KZN, plays Errol. His character’s a game producer who discovers that survival is no longer just a game when an electromagnetic pulse bomb fries every electrical circuit in his office high-rise – and people’s heads.
Talking to our sister publication Drum magazine, Thapelo said: “Pulse is a journey that introduces you to the different types of people we interact with on a daily basis – their strengths and weaknesses, the highs and lows, the securities and insecurities – through the world of gaming. Every member of society is revealed to us through the world of these games, and heightened after they’ve been changed by the electromagnetic pulse bomb.”
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On his character, he told the publication: “I read this and I said, ‘Man, this is crazy. What the hell is this?’ But man, I love it. I care. I’m interested. I like what they are saying and how they see it. Most of all, I like this character. I was trying to step out of doing these safe roles that we normally see on our screens.
“I get a lot of offers to do rom-coms, to play the ladies’ man or the guy who ends up with the girl, but it’s not what I’m about. I’m an actor and I’m always looking for a range of diverse extremes. I had called my agents locally and internationally and said I’m not doing any nice guy roles for another two or three years. I’m not interested. I’d rather go without work if it’s not the right kind of bad guy or crazy guy. And this character was exactly what I prayed for. I was like, ‘Lord, this is what I’ve been asking you for, for so long,’” said Thapelo.
