Thembi Seete’s talent is the gift that keeps on giving.
Even though she didn’t know this was the path laid ahead for her, the seasoned performer says she is still learning and growing in her craft.
With the return of the raunchy Showmax show Adulting, we are to set our eyes on a different Thembi we’ve never seen before as she joins the cast for the second season.
Speaking to TRUELOVE, you can sense enthusiasm in her voice as she shares about this new gig.
Talking about her character, the sexy Portia, she says, “My character is part of a big story. My character is basically getting into a story that's already there.”
Thembi join the stellar cast of Thembinkosi Mthembu, Luthando ' B.U' Mthembu, Nhlanhla Kunene and newcomer Thabiso Rammusi. She plays a housewife who seeks “attention or love” from outside her marriage because it’s something she doesn’t get at home.
“Portia is going to be involved with one of the guys and her aim was to get the attention that she's not getting at home.
“And, at home, she's rich [and] she's a spoiled housewife. She can get anything, but the thing is in real life you can have everything but if you don't have anyone that you can share [things] with or someone that [cares for you] because all these material things [are nothing].
READ MORE | 'The bromance of the decade' - Get to know the leading men of Showmax’s drama series Adulting
In this series, the former Boom Shaka member explores a storyline first of its kind in her career, an explicit scene. Though not fazed about it, she admits she has to psych herself up for her roles.
“The beauty about acting is [that] you have an opportunity to portray different characters. You can wake up one morning and say, ‘I feel like playing a nurse, a doctor’ and that's the beauty about acting that it allows you to wear somebody else's clothes and tell that person's story. So, I would say that these characters, they've got nothing to do with you. You must really psych yourself up and say, ‘I am representing women that are going through’, like Gladys [on Gomora]. I mean, I'm not anything close to Gladys but I had to wear her clothes.
“I had to find those little nice elements for Portia, for me to use [that] this is the person that I'm presenting to you. I had to psych myself up before going on set and tell myself, ‘Forget about yourself’ and, yes, we do sometimes worry about what people would say but I'm an actor. I just also want to be excited about my craft and not box myself and always do the same thing that is safe and expected. Let me just push myself a little bit,” she tells us.
Thembi has been in the game for decades and her career began sonically as the soundtrack of the 90s as part of the legendary group, Boom Shaka. Yearning to grow her career, she did not want to be only know as 'Thembi from Boom Shaka'.
“For me to sort of like decide to do acting is because I wanted my own identity, I sort of wanted I was just thinking for something that will just give me my name alone, not that I’m not proud to be Thembi from Boom Shaka - I'll forever be the Thembi from Boom Shaka.
“But I was just looking for something that will sort of like give me my own independence, my own alone standing then somehow, I found acting and acting found me and I didn't even know that I could act it was just trying out different things where exactly I’ll be more comfortable doing this thing on my own.”
After giving it much thought, she auditioned for the iconic series Yizo Yizo and getting the role five days after. Her career soared from then on, going from being the queen of kwaito to being an acclaimed actress on Gaz’lam, Zone 14, Rhythm City, Kings of Joburg and Gomora, including being a host on popular TV show such as SABC 1 dance show Jika Majika and a judge on singing competition Idols South Africa.
She says, “It's just something that I didn't even know that I could do and I’m learning I’m still a student because really with acting you can't say you know it because every character needs a different style it needs a different sort of like body. You can't wear the same body for all the characters that you play so it's a learning process and that's how I ended up acting.”
As she continues to grow within her career, among her plethora of achievements, the thespian says she aspires to be in a movie and even producing.
