His first exposure to stage acting was in high school.
Although he found it fascinating, he did not think about pursuing it.
Instead, he took the corporate route and pursued information technology.
Calling himself the typical corporate head, Motheo Ratikane says he was merely trying out his luck when he auditioned for the role of uLongamo ka Jonginamba in 1802: Love Defies Time.
“I went for it because I thought ‘here’s my opportunity, this has been my long interest and time is running out’. It was just that time to say ‘I’m going for this one. I need to explore this talent’. It was then a blessing to get the role.”
Even after getting the role though, Motheo is still in corporate and remotely performs his duties in between takes on set.
Like his character on the isiXhosa drama series, Motheo takes pride in his heritage and history.
Before saying much in the interview with Drum, he explains that he is a Hlubi, which is a Xhosa clan mixed with Sotho, hence his name.
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“I’m from Queenstown, the Eastern Cape and also my forefathers from my father’s side are from eMatatiele. You’ll find a lot of Hlubis there, Xhosas mixed with Sothos. Others know me as Thole, Ndlangisa.”
The actor grew up in a coloured community Rabie Ridge, Midrand but still maintains close ties to his roots.
In fact, he's grateful that his first mainstream acting role brings him closer to these roots.
"Being part of 1802: Love Defies Time, my character (Longamo) is set in the 1800s, meaning the IsiXhosa spoken is pure, I have learnt new words in my Xhosa vocabulary. This has brought me closer to my Xhosa roots and opened me up to the beauty of our culture and showed me the importance of preserving language and our culture through Arts, for generations to come," he says.
Unlike most of the actors on the series who wear artificial wigs, Motheo grows his hair naturally and only styles it to suit his character.
He tells Drum that he started growing his beard when the country was placed under lockdown in 2020 and barbershop runs were prohibited.
“The last time I cut it was that February and March we went into lockdown, so I thought ‘what’s the point of cutting it?’. So I let it grow. Since 2020, I’ve only been trimming but never really cut it off entirely.”
With his hair, he’s always kept it short but he let it grow last year in 2022. A year later, he auditioned for the role of Longamo and his hair worked wonders for him, bagging him his debut acting role.
Reminiscing on that day, he says, “When I was there at actor spaces, they sort of loved the look with the natural hair and amazed by the talent, the casting process was sealed. But it was the make-up head of department Slindile Dladla who looked at the hair and said, ‘this is the hair for Longamo’.”
After his hair was pulled out to check the length and they were then satisfied, he was ready to play Longamo.
His bold, rich black hair takes on different formations as he portrays the eldest brother to Melisizwe who’s star-played by Prince Grootboom.
To keep it as healthy as it is seen and admired on the television screens, Motheo uses his own hair products from his hair grooming brand called Royal Beards.
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“I’ve been using it officially for six months so I can launch the products.”
Speaking about how the business idea came about, he tells Drum that he was working with Earthy hair care as a distributor and client himself. And so, because he had a clientele, when Earthy hair care went on a production break, he saw the chance to start his own thing.
“When I started to compare the cost involved, I was like ‘no man, I can do this myself’. The whole point of starting it [hair grooming brand] was to help people grow their beards. If you want to grow your beard, then maintain it, keep it well-groomed, take care of it,” he adds.
As he prepares to launch his haircare brand, Motheo also strives to hone his acting skills and hopes to bag more roles that he’ll personally connect with.
