It is the Easter weekend, and many people have gone home to visit loved ones and spend time with family.
Every holiday season the Ferguson family makes time to get together to rest from the demanding schedule of running a successful production company. They usually go away to a place where they will not be able to look at work or think of solving any work-related crisis.
This Easter holiday will be different for the Fergusons as they will be spending it for the first time without the head of their home, Shona Ferguson, who passed away at 47-year-old in July 2021, from Covid-19 related complications.
Since Shona’s death, his wife, business partner, and actress Connie Ferguson has kept the family together while running the business.
Dealing with grief has not been easy but she tells Drum but she wants to keep her husband’s memory alive and continue with family traditions as they have been doing through the years.
“As we get together for big holidays like Christmas, we will do the same for Easter,” Connie says.
“This is our first Easter without Sho. Everything is the first without hubby right now,” she says.
“What we are trying to do is maintain continuity and do what we used to do when he was around. We don’t want to stop the family traditions,” she says.
“Actors and filmmakers hardly get time off. So, the kids and I will be going away for the Easter break and spending it quietly as a family. On holidays, we usually prioritize rest. Work has been very hectic, and I haven’t had time off. At times I do feel like I can’t breathe while managing my home and the business. I can’t always stop to think, and everything can get overwhelming. So, this long weekend is just for us to rest, eat, sleep, relax and do nothing.”
They usually find a different environment away from home where they will not be tempted to work.
“We avoid doing familiar things and just relax.”
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It has been a tough yet rewarding year for the Ferguson family.
Connie is nominated for Favourite Personality at the DStv Mzansi Viewers’ Choice Awards (DMVCAs) alongside Makhadzi, Lasizwe, Shauwn Mkhize, and DBN Gogo. Voted for by the South African public, the DMVCAs will honour top achievers over the past two years in television, radio, music, sports, and comedy.
She wishes Shona was around to see her getting her first nomination at the DMVCAs.
“This is my first Viewers Choice award nomination. I have been in the industry for more than 30 years. I think this one is special or probably my favourite nomination because viewers get the power to decide who wins. After 30 odd years of doing what I love, the nomination couldn’t have time at a good time to cheer me up,” she says.
“I have enjoyed what I do from way back Karabo, Marang and right up until now playing Harriet on The Queen, I feel blessed.”
Connie says awards are in no way a measure of success, but she appreciates the recognition.
“Awards are nice, they show recognition and appreciation, but I don’t put too much emphasis on them. I worry about viewership because those are the people we need to please and the reason we wake up and do this every morning is for views,” she says.
“But the way viewership’s work is so volatile because one season you are doing great, and then you are not doing well. You then see that it’s not just us, but across the board and you wonder what happens and where you went wrong. It’s a tricky industry and viewers need to be hooked and kept.”
At Ferguson Films, she is the boss and calls the shots, but she is also the talent in front of the camera, which for many can be hard to separate.
“Outside of dealing with invoices and grievances, I get to act and play someone either than who I am,” she says.
“I am a team player and my team knows that. I don’t consider myself a boss, because that can alienate people and I’m all about inclusivity. I comfortably know the difference because I also have a good relationship with my team. They know when the leader hat is on or off. I also know when to be Connie the actress. I think I could be mistaken for strict, but I just want things done and done well. I love people to be responsible, accountable, and play their part. I have expectations, nobody is perfect, they will make mistakes, but they also need to be accountable,” she adds.
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The Queen has been running for six years and this is the last season and they want to exit in January 2023 with a bang.
“We are in season six now. We have been extended with 125 episodes and those will be the final on 13 January 2023,” she says.
“I was sad when I heard the news, for many reasons. One, my team has become my family and we have been working together for so many years. We have over 100 employees who will need to start looking for work once The Queen is done. They really bonded. It comes with a lot of responsibility. Everyone was shocked when they found out, looking at me for answers. The level of responsivity which lies on my shoulders is heavy, but I carry it with grace and hope that something will come through to keep everybody working. We're a big team, my big heart doesn’t want to let go but God will come through with something. But I trust God.”
Recently on The Queen, Harriet Khoza marries police boss Hector Khoza (Rapulana Seiphemo) who she acted alongside and who was her onscreen husband in Generations over a decade ago.
After successfully putting together a wedding to die for, Connie says seeing the wedding until the end was emotional and made her miss her late husband Shona even more.
“I won’t lie, going into that day, I was nervous. Even just preparing for it felt surreal because Sho and I had started planning our real 20th wedding year anniversary, which was supposed to be in 2021,” she says.
“We were going to do another vow renewal. Biji Gibbs of Biji - La Maison de Couture was going to make my dress. She made my original wedding dress, my 10th anniversary, and vow renewal dress, and we had planned to do another vow renewal for our 20 years together, and that did not happen. So, planning Harriet’s wedding was bitter-sweet.”
Connie says when they were initially brainstorming the storyline, Shona was part of it.
“Sho was part of the story planning and we envisioned everything together. But came time to execute, he wasn’t there. It was bitter-sweet. So, on the day of Harriet and Hector’s wedding, I was nervous because I didn’t know how I was going to feel. I didn’t want to break down, and I was praying to God that I don’t ruin the day and I not be able to shoot. I don’t like people fusing over me. But I felt Sho’s spirit that day.”
Connie says she felt a sudden calm and knew his spirit was on set and knew her husband was watching over her.
“A strange thing happened that day when I experienced a calm and a peace I had never felt before. I think I spent the whole day in that calm moment. Looking back at all that footage, everything looks so real. Rapulana and Connie as Hector and Harriet, H and H looked beautiful and as though it was a real-life wedding. It couldn’t have gone better.”
She says her team pulled all the stops to make it a success.
“The long train was my director Andries van der Merwe’s idea. He said, ‘I want a five-meter-long train.’ People usually do trains with veils but Harriet wasn’t going to wear a veil and pulling that address was work but it was magnificent. I felt my husband in the room and that brought me peace,” she says.
“My husband was always camera ready, and his phone was always on standby to shoot me. I had a lot of moments when someone would come behind me and say, “die mamzo” and I would envision Sho and smile the way I would to him. He was represented on so many different levels in those wedding scenes. God works in mysterious ways, and he knew what I needed to get through that day and he came through.”
Connie does not believe she would have made it through the passing of Shona without her team and her children.
“I would have never made it through this season without the people I work with. They are more than employees and staff; they are my family. I think about where we come from, where we are and some of the things that we have gone through and I am just so grateful. If I could, I would keep them forever.”
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Ferguson Films had its first production in 2015 and since then shows kept coming. Among many productions, they are working on 1Magic drama series Unmarried season three with Mapula Mafole who plays Rea and Florence Mokgatsi who plays Confidence, and other cast members Kabelo Moalusi (The Throne, The Queen), rapper Jesse Suntele (The Queen, The Hustle) and Lulu Hela (The River, Is’thunzi). This season follows three friends in their 20s trying to survive the concrete jungle and all its predators.
“Had Sho passed before, I don’t think I would have coped or handled it with this level of maturity. I think I haven’t stopped evolving. Life keeps throwing me curve balls and forces me to adapt and go in a different direction. But the evolution continues,” she says.
“When I started to where I am today, I worked very hard on myself as an actress. I started in small shows on CCTV, TV1, and TV2 back in the day and eventually joined the Multichoice and Mzansi Magic family and progressed from being just in front of the camera to being behind. So, from a brand, I am multifaced and can’t be boxed. I call myself every woman.”
She is also very spiritual and puts God before everything.
“I am always getting there. Every day is one foot in in front of the other. There are days when I trip, and I’ll be an emotional wreck the whole day. But what I don’t do is dwell in the sadness. I allow it to happen, but I don’t dwell on it,” she says.
“The experience with my husband’s passing has taught me that life is too short. My children and my grandson have to remember a happy mom and a happy grandma. I am not going to have my children look at me and feel sorry for me, that is not why I am here. I need to make sure they are okay. They also take care of me and have been very supportive and strong. I have amazing children and through all the trials, God has been good.”
