Media personality and actor - Lunga Shabalala has had quite a successful run thus far in the entertainment industry.
If he's not in front of the camera, he's probably at the gym and if he's not at the gym well...he's probably right back in front of the camera. Life is one fully booked schedule for the young actor who seems to be enjoying his current role on 1 Magic's telenovela - The River.
The 30-year-old plays the character of Lindani in the telenovela, his first ever acting gig since he stepped onto the entertainment industry back in 2011.
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ZAlebs caught up with the young man to find out more about his journey on the telenovela thus far.
During the interview, Lunga shared how he did not want to have high expectations about the audition as he's become quite accustomed to being rejected when it comes to auditioning for anything.
Little did he know that the producers of the show would select him to be part of this award-winning production.
"I have auditioned so many times on so many shows and the one thing you get used to in this industry is rejection; you don't put too much faith in the process regardless of how well you do. At that point, I was content that I gave myself the chance and opportunity to feature if it does happen.
However, the next thing you know, I got the phone call saying that I need to come back for a screen test and to do a couple of more things. I went for a vacation then came back to find out that I was now a cast member of The River."
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At first, the thought of him being on The River was surreal; however, everything for him began to sink in when he and the other cast members were at the P.R shoot for the telenovela. Lunga expressed how amazing it was to rub shoulders with veteran and relatively new actors who would become his future colleagues on the show:
"It was pretty amazing I won't lie, especially when I was at the PR shoot and you see all these new faces, the Larona's and the Lunga Mofokeng's and you obviously see the old heads and you actually realise that wait, I'm in it."
The River is known for its many rivetting episodes that have had viewers sitting on the edge of their seats as characters grapple with not only their inner demons but the demons of others.
Considering that the show requires a lot of energy and concentration from every actor in the show, we asked Lunga if he's ever grappled with a scene on the show. This is what he had to say:
"For me, it's never just a scene, but it's more of a storyline, an arch of a storyline. There's one that happened in season two which was the arch where I'm conflicted between helping my sister or helping the love of my life. So when you see the journey, it makes sense why so yeah getting through that and maintaining the same mindset was difficult."
Before we ended our interview with Lunga, he also shared that his for The River is that it becomes an iconic telenovela that will go on to air for as long as possible, if not, he still wishes that it falls under the umbrella of some of the most iconic television shows in Mzansi. What to read next: Exclusive - On the set of The River
