She’s been a part of a whole generation of youngsters slaying their Afrikaans curriculum.
Nobuhle Mimi Mahlasela’s character Aggie Ngwenya-Meintjies became a fan favourite the minute she stepped into the iconic Hillside set.
The beloved Afrikaans soapie 7de Laan will see it’s final chapter air on 26 December 2023 after bringing together all types of families across Mzansi on weeknights for 23 years.
Having portrayed Aggie since 2005, the 41-year-old actress has seen her character through intense, iconic and heartwarming storylines that give 7de Laan the gold stamp it deserves.
After the show announced its conclusion in July 2023, many were shocked to say the least. But not more than Mimi, who will have to hang up her character after 18 years.
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During the show’s final weeks of shooting, Mimi shares with TRUELOVE her first reaction to finding out 7de Laan is coming to an end.
“I think I was numb. I remember that day, I was literally like this on my phone, and I could hear them speaking and I’m like, ‘Oh, I need to call my mom’. I was numb for a minute and then I went into panic mode [saying] okay, what are we saving, how much do we have to last us ‘til the end of the year, I just went into that.
“And then the following day, it was just interviews throughout that week. It was gruelling, I don’t want to lie. I didn’t feel anything, I don’t think I had processed yet what was fully going on.”
Aggie is a character that has seen a mountain of growth and development since her first appearance in 2005.
Sharing what she loves the most about playing Aggie, Mimi explains, “My favourite parts about Aggie was the growth that she did personally and career-wise, so to speak. uAggie mayefika she came in and she was a cleaner who didn’t know the town of Hillside. Didn’t know it’s traditions and its people and she was just determined to be a successful businesswoman that owns a cleaning company and she achieved that, and she went on to bigger and greater things.
“Working at the Hillside Times, the community newspaper, basically running it because everyone that was running it because everybody else that was working there, they were just either always out and she was just putting everything together! So, her determination to make things a success, I love that about that girl, she’s determined.”
From a lavish wedding to Vince Meintjies featuring two dresses designed by fashion guru Gert-Johan Coetzee to rising in the ranks from cleaner to businesswoman, Aggie has become a beacon of inspiration for many viewers.
Nothing else shows this more than the gripping and heart wrenching storyline where Aggie gets pregnant after an assault, which got Mimi nominated for a Royalty Soapie Award.
“That storyline for me was very close to home. Sho. Doing that storyline, I don’t know where I pulled it out from to not fall apart but because – like I said, it’s too close to home – I had to deliver and I had a story to tell and to be professional,” Mimi shares.
“After that I got so many social media inboxes from people that were like, ‘Thank you, thank you. Thank you very much for portraying this story the way that you did. A similar thing happened to me; I don’t blame Aggie for the decisions that she made’ – others did keep the child others didn’t keep the child.
“But to be able to have an influx of those people telling me about their real intimate life stories, I was like, oh my gosh, I literally just opened a window for them to say, ‘I can breathe, I can talk about this. Someone hears me, someone knows what I’m going through’, I then quickly became a pillar of strength for them even though we don’t know each other physically or in real life.”
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Describing herself as a method actor, such a storyline and the subsequent ending of the show brings out a flood of emotions, which come out for Mimi during our conversation.
Coming from a praying family, what keeps her grounded and present in the now is her loved ones and her faith.
“I definitely know the kind of family and friends that I have. They help me a lot to keep grounded and to keep hope alive because I’ve got a great support system; this industry needs you to have that. It’s a very very very hard industry, very gruelling.
“People still think because I’ve been Aggie on 7de Laan for so many years, things come easier for me. No, I still get auditions that I have to go to that I’m nervous and people get there and they’re like, ‘why are you still auditioning?’ I still audition because that thing comes with the job.”
Through the back-to-back schedule of shooting her Shaka iLembe scenes concurrently with 7de Laan and the uncertainty of what the future may hold now that her day-to-day is coming to an end, Mimi does her best to put her mental health first.
“I’m a person that struggles with mental health issues, so I do doubt myself a lot,” she reveals, tearing up.
“I started doubting myself when they told us that the show was going to end and then I had to go to auditions and maybe I can’t do it anymore. I started doubting myself, it’s a lot … I mean, I’ve done a lot of improvement to stop doubting myself but some days, the honest truth is it’s not that great.
“Like, I literally just don’t want to get out and face the world. I’m scared to face the rest of this industry because this place shielded me so much from the fame and the trending and the it-girl, it was just about the work. So, now I’m like, I must face this industry on my own, what am I going to do!”
With Mimi’s acting prowess, it would come as no surprise to see that the world is her oyster.
Hoping to dive into characters with more depth, such as playing someone that is mentally challenged, Mimi also shares how she hopes to one day play a “baddie”.
On whether she has any upcoming projects or goals she’d like to achieve, Mimi says, “Definitely I do, which is producing. And I’d also like – because I did training here at 7de Laan for directing for a year. That was a while ago, I did that for a year but I had to let it go because you can’t do both. I’d like to explore into producing directing. Acting is my first love, so I will still be continuing to do that God-willing and I know it will happen.”
Leaving us with a piece of wisdom for anyone who doubts themselves or their capabilities, Mimi advises, “Don’t live too much in your head. Don’t listen to the voices in your head. What I’m doing currently– as boring as it sounds – constantly talking to my mom, my sisters and my friends.
“That has helped to not live in my head too much. Because what happens is I over think it, I overthink it and I create another scenario. Yoh, then it’s a lot! So, talking to somebody really really helps to keep you somewhat stable and calm and I’m in therapy at the moment as well. My therapist said to me, look, acknowledge the anxiety. Acknowledge it, say it is here, breathe through it but you’ve got to leave, you’ve got to let it go. Don’t pretend it’s not there. Acknowledge it but move on.”
