Many were first introduced to him as Slay, a gang leader on Soul Buddyz in 2011. As time and characters passed, they grew to love him as Lutho on Scandal!, Goitseone on The Throne, Neo on Ring of Lies and Nkosi Radebe on Saints and Sinners.
By the time we got to watch him as Bonga on Savage Beauty, he was one of the favourite faces on SA screens.
Now as S’khumbuzo Biyela on The Estate, he has become a part of the families who watch him on the drama series every weekday.
He indeed has come far with acting, and he believes his end is nowhere near.
As per the main theme of the newly-released film called Ingoma – The song which he stars in, Mpho Sebeng has just the song to describe his journey.
Starting off his interview with Drum on this note, he says Sisuka Kude by Kelvin Momo is that song.
“My grandfather used to say to me: Ho hole mo otswang teng empa se ole haufi mo oyang teng (Where you come from is far but where you’re going is near). So, for me I see this song playing out with me having a conversation with God himself and how far we’ve come on our journey, not just God but my ancestors as well because I don’t believe that I walk alone. I believe that I walk in faith with God, but I also walk by might with my ancestors, and we are a lot closer to where we need to be than where we were.”
In the film produced by Kagiso Modupe’s Bakwena productions company, Mpho plays Themba Tshabalala, a young man whose life is marred by the harsh realities and trauma of life in the Kwa Thema township, the death of his father, imprisonment of his brother and prostitution of his mother to put food on the table.
As a celebrated high school rugby player in a prestigious boarding school, he flourishes, but when he is met by the poverty at home, he shrinks and resorts to selling drugs, which lands him in hot waters.
As Mpho, he relates to this storyline as he was born in Soweto and later moved to the Roodepoort suburb in Johannesburg where he had a white friend. Since freedom from apartheid was still fresh in the country, Mpho told his friend that his name was Christian because he feared that he wouldn’t be able to pronounce his real name.
Reflecting on a similar scene in the film, he reminisces about his grandmother’s reaction to him being called Christian by his white friend as a kid.
“I had the best of both worlds in that regard; when I went to Soweto, I learned how to survive there and when I went to a suburb, I learned how to survive there. The biggest trait that Themba and I share is knowing how to survive wherever we are placed.”
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In the climax of the film, he is forced to face his demons and dance to the consequence tune of his actions.
Speaking about this scene, he says although it borrowed a few elements from theatre production, the beauty of it was the vigorous preparation that went into it prior to its shoot.
“That particular day in the tuckshop, we made sure that we spend all the time in the tuckshop prepping before so that by the time we get inside, it almost feels like one complete thing and one complete thought as opposed to it having cuts and all of that.”
Just as Themba learned a couple of life lessons from the other characters played by Sello Maake ka Ncube, Khanya Mkangisa, Motlatsi Mafatshe, Thato Dithebe and Monnye Kunupi, Mpho also learned a thing or two from playing the lead character.
“Firstly, I could resonate a lot with the character and what he was going through but the main thing for me was redefining what it is to be a man because we have made a particular image of what a man should be. There is nothing wrong with that image but there are gaps and because there are gaps, these gaps create cracks and because these cracks are not attended to, this vessel of what we call a man gets broken bit by bit and is a lot more fragile. Now the fragility comes from the ideal of not being comfortable with your vulnerability.”
The passionate actor adds that men are also human and that the reason why the majority of people who commit suicide and battle with mental illness are men is because there is rarely a platform for them to release.
“It is seen as a form of weakness when you are vulnerable, truthful and forthcoming about your emotions and how you’ve been hurt. One of the various lessons I learned is that there is definitely strength in vulnerability, there is strength in seeing your emotions for what they are [and understanding them],” he tells Drum.
Besides being happy, sad and angry, the tv star says a lot of men do not familiarise themselves with their emotions and where they stem from and that is why it was important for him to tell this particular story about a troubled young man who places his bright future on the line for a few quick bucks and street cred.
It is not the first time Mpho has been seen telling an impactful story though. As Slay on Soul Buddyz, he poured his heart out to telling the story of gang violence awareness during its rise in the country.
He credits telling such stories to alignment.
The biggest thing for him is “what is the story behind it, what is the meaning behind this character or what they need to say and what are we saying to society”.
“So, I always try to find roles and characters that have roles that are just bigger than themselves, that can somehow play a role of healing because a lot of us need that, be a voice to the voiceless, can stand up in front of [an audience], become naked and just turn around slowly so that our hearts can be shown either on film or on the stage.”
Playing such impactful characters is something that he also prays for and writes in his journal about.
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More than anything, acting is a calling that he heeds with his entire being. Even after trying to pursue other things academically, he couldn’t shake off the thespian urge to tell stories.
Although there wasn’t a big budget and just one sponsor for the production, the Ingoma film made it to Netflix and out of all the characters Mpho has played, he says this is what will make Themba stand out for him throughout the rest of his acting career.
“It does not always have to be flashy, about the big bucks or Hollywood status and crazy budgets but the most important thing is telling a story that it is true and telling it with integrity.”
He hopes that whoever watches the film whether locally or internationally, every young person, particularly men, can find nuggets of themselves and take out something from the film.
Mpho also promises to be in more production gems in the near future as he continues playing out S’khumbuzo on The Estate on SABC 3 and also explores tapping into other artistic roles behind the camera.
