The actress behind the fascinating character of Xoli on The Wife Lungelo Mpangase has shared how excited she is to be part of the loved telenovela, especially playing a trigger-happy, hot-headed girl.
When the season of Showmax’s telenovela made its debut last Thursday its fans were particularly impressed and intrigued by Xoli, who is Sambulo’s girl.
The gun-firing, no-boundary-having (judging by her dramatic entry into the mansion) edition to the family is nothing like the Zulu brothers’ wives.
Lungelo did a young Q&A to let fans into her world.
What attracted you to The Wife and made you say, ‘OK, I’m definitely hopping on to this?
I mean who wouldn’t hop on to The Wife?
The books were amazing; I read some of them when I was in high school. I love the writing style, the story and its characters. So I couldn’t miss it. It’s one of those projects you don’t want to miss. You want to be part of The Wife.
In my acting journey, I was hoping for something that would challenge me. Something that would take me out of my comfort zone because I was tired of playing the timid little girl from rural KZN.
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Then I read the bio of Xoli and thought, ‘Oh, God heard my prayer. This is the challenge I needed in my career.’
Tell us about the day you found out you were going to be cast on The Wife. Where were you, what were you doing and who was the first person you told?
I was having a lovely day at my house painting, sipping on some wine and listening to some music. My agent called me and said, ‘Listen, you got the role.’ I jumped up and screamed because I was so excited. I didn’t tell anyone at first as I wanted the news to first sink in and make sure I got a contract and all that. And then of course the first person I told was my mom.
Xoli is a crazy, sexy and wild character. What do you have in common with your character? Are there any big differences?
Oh yes, huge differences!
I’m such a soft girl. If there’s a fight, I will just cry or go home. I don’t want to be part of it. Yet Xoli gets excited if there’s drama. She’s very strong and I love how brave she is. She’s a trigger-happy type of person. She will go shoot before everybody says, ‘Let’s go shoot.’
She’s also sexually free. I’m from a very strict family where when we talk about sex we have to be respectful. Xoli doesn’t. She will do it right here, right now. That’s how freaky she is!
What’s it like working with Sipho Ndlovu as your lover, Sambulo?
I’ve known Sipho for quite some time because we’re both from KZN. Then I saw Sambulo on the show, who’s completely different from Sipho. It was so great to see someone so dedicated to their character. I told myself: if he can transform into this person who’s completely different from him, then so can I. That kept me on my toes and inspired me to bring out my own character.
What’s working with the Zulu brothers like?
Working alongside the Zulu brothers has been amazing. They are very quick and you kinda have to adapt to them as well. They bring that masculinity. I’ve never worked with a lot of men so closely and I can feel it.