People of Mzansi have always been vocal about 'opening up the industry' as we have seen only big faces dominating the big and the little screens. With the introduction of new faces on popular TV shows such as The Wife on Showmax and Umkhokha, they thought things were finally moving towards the right direction. However, uproar ensued when Mihlali announced that she scored an acting gig on a Showmax film titled, Boxing Day.
Boxing Day tells the tale of amateur kidnappers who take a government official hostage, in order to bury their grandmother. However, their amateurish ways catch up with them and their plan slowly starts to crumble.
Featured on the film which debuted on Boxing Day, December 26, 2021, is seasoned actress Zola Nombona as lead, S’thandiwe Kgoroge, Phumlani Magadla and Hamilton Dlamini.
Mihlali Ndamase features on the film as a slay queen but her role is quiet small. That did not stop tweeps from dragging her and the industry as a whole because they believe this closes doors for actual talent and people studying towards this profession.
The beauty influencer and entrepreneur started trending on social media shortly after the title 'Queen Of Acting' was given to her. "Mihlali Ndamase who can't even do simple acting on Lasizwe YouTube channel. Scores a acting role on a movie on Showmax. South African entertainment industry will remain Rotten!!!" was one of the comments directed at Mihlali.
Mihlali aside, if you’re confident in your creative talent & your work is of good quality, you don’t need popular faces to sell it. I wish SA producers could learn from shows like #Thewifeshowmax & #Ukhokha , The quality of acting & storyline sold itself. https://t.co/7sPnKgg7sN
The influencer did reveal once that she gets anxious every time she trends and we can imagine that it is no different this time. When she saw that she is trending for all the wrong reasons, she just said "yoh" and kept it moving.
This is not her first time acting. Mihlali cameod on Rhythm City before it reached it end. She and her friend and fellow YouTuber, Lasizwe teamed up for a skit on his channel and it did not land.
Open up the industry was slammed by the late Shona Ferguson who labelled it insulting. "The term “recycling actors” is very insulting to actors in our industry. Actors act. That’s what they do for a living. Saying because they’ve been on 1 project they should be cast away and someone new must be cast is unfair. I have never cared for this particular phrase “open up the industry” because it's what we do every day of our lives.
"We give hundreds of actors work opportunities every single year, we give long term work to loyal hard-working actors and crew, so “Open Up the industry” is, unfortunately, a statement that is misused by bullies to tear others down. The number one rule to getting anything worthwhile done is to never get distracted by misinformed opinions. The industry IS open. You are just not doing enough to get the attention of casting directors. Complaining will never get any door open for you. Hard work and perseverance definitely will," explains Shona.
The people who are mainly angered by this is Mzansi men who have never liked her on the first place. They never had a problem with dragging her for filth every time she does something. The last time she got dragged was when she defended Uncle Waffles who struts around in a thong.
"South African men wanting to police Uncle Waffle’s dress code is so tired," she said.
She did however break the internet with her bikini pics which look gorgeous.
