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The country’s biggest movie event, the Durban International Film Festival, kicks off on Thursday. The opening film, Ayanda, is a quirky SA-Nigerian family drama set in Yeoville. S’thembile Cele profiles the lead actress, Fulu Mugovhani, ahead of their big night
There’s a sassy but inspiring meme that has been doing the rounds on Facebook: “If you knew me a year ago, you don’t know me at all. My growth game is strong.”
Meeting Fulu Mugovhani made me think of that immediately. I have the sense that, if I were to run into her in a few months’ time, I would barely recognise her because her growth game is so on point.
The animated 25-year-old actress, who cut her teeth in the soap opera Scandal, is about to launch a new phase of her career. She plays the title role in her debut film, Ayanda.
It’s a big deal to have been directed by South Africa’s most lauded female film maker, Sara Blecher (Otelo Burning), and to be groomed by Blecher’s co-producer, the celebrated actress Terry Pheto (Tsotsi).
But Mugovhani is keeping it real. She’s more concerned about mastering her craft than in gracing the red carpet – as she did recently in Cannes and Los Angeles, where Ayanda made its first international appearances.
She makes no apologies for her faith (Catholic), her heritage (Venda) or the lunch she devours during our meeting (pizza).
By the end of our meal, I know her as a vibrant risk taker whose well of passion is bubbling over.
She’s here to make her mark.
“I grew up admiring bold characters who struck a perfect balance between being really strong but also vulnerable. I was a fan of Carol Bouwer’s character on Generations and Nthati Moshesh on Home Affairs.”
Her big break happened in the theatre when she was cast as Nala in The Lion King at just 21. She went from being a student in Tshwane to a working actress in Hong Kong, and then had a role designed specially for her on Scandal.
“I came from this small town. Being Venda, I’ve had to contend with a number of ridiculous stereotypes of what I should look and sound like. My dad is the head of performing arts at the Tshwane University of Technology, so I have often had the sense that people thought I was undeserving of my place there. I had to work four times harder to ace everything,” she says.
That hard work paid off. When the producers of Scandal called her up to play the role of a Venda princess, Mugovhani got the chance to tell part of her story in a more nuanced and realistic manner, which she says has given some dignity to her identity.
The offer came at a time when she had done the unthinkable and left Hong Kong and The Lion King because she felt the local industry was “calling” her. While working on Scandal, it quite literally did.
“I get this call from my hero, my idol, Nthati Moshesh,” she explains, squealing in delight at the memory.
“She said: ‘Hi my sweetheart, I want you to audition for a role. We are having difficulty in finding a leading lady for a film.’”
The next few days and weeks were spent holed up in her room getting to know the character of Ayanda. A young female mechanic living in the Pan-African suburb of Yeoville, Ayanda must deal with loss and love while refusing to be held hostage by the expectations of men and society.
But what viewers will see on the big screen is only part of the journey Mugovhani has gone through to become Ayanda and ultimately take her place alongside some of South Africa’s most memorable performers.
She pauses and takes a sip of her orange juice before speaking about how nervous she was at the auditions. She walked in and Pheto asked her to get straight to the film’s biggest scene. At first, Mugovhani was terrified.
“But in that moment, with Nthati in the character of my mother, I felt like my performance was flawless. It was a moment of clarity and affirmation of all my hard work. I walked out of there elated, almost unbothered with getting the part at all. Of course, I really did want it, but it was such a moment of growth for me.”
Landing the role of the leading lady, however, came with fresh challenges.
“I remember telling a friend that Ayanda smokes and there is a sex scene. It’s not full frontal, but you can see side boob and the people on set will see everything. I had to come to terms with these things as Fulu, and then as an actor.”
That wasn’t all.
“I was playing the part of a mechanic, but I knew nothing about cars – I didn’t even have a licence and couldn’t drive.”
The results of months of hard work and personal challenges speak for themselves. The young actress has earned the praise of critics around the world.
“In the beginning, I would find faults at every screening. I would go back to Sara and complain about things that I could have done better and I remember her saying to me: ‘All of these people are out here celebrating you – why don’t you celebrate yourself?’”
