Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Pulse': Thapelo Mokoena ditches Mr Nice Guy' in new horror series

22/06/2022

Pulse': Thapelo Mokoena ditches Mr Nice Guy' in new horror seriesSAFTA-winning actor Thapelo Mokoena described his character in the upcoming horror series, Pulse', as a straight shooter'.

by Naledi de Wee

22-06-2022 15:50

in Entertainment

Thapelo Mokoena is set to play Errol in an upcoming Showmax horror series titled, Pulse'. Image: Supplied

SAFTA-winning actor Thapelo Mokoena, best known for his roles in Trackers, Wild at Heart and Ayeye, is set to star in Showmax's new horror series, Pulse, set to be released on Thursday on 23 June. Mokoena plays Errol, a video game producer who discovers that survival is not a game when an electromagnetic pulse bomb fries every electrical circuit in his office And people's heads.

--

Ahead of Pulse, the actor spoke about his claim to fame, working on the series, and his character.

ALSO READ: Collision' review: Action-thriller packs a punch with socio-political themes

What is your claim to fame?

--

I'm just an individual trying to live a life of purpose. I'm somebody who grew up on a farm, in a small farming town, where everything that was exciting was heard about, read about or seen on TV.

All I ever wanted to do was go out and see, go out and touch, and go out and take some. I'm somebody who's really been adamant about conquering and unveiling those dreams, making them become a reality. I am like my people, the Crocodile Clan, otherwise known as the Bakoena. We are resilient and we are seekers.

How would you describe Pulse?

--

Pulse is a journey that introduces you to the different types of people we interact with on a daily basis - their strengths and weaknesses, the highs and lows, the securities and insecurities - through the world of gaming.

Every member of society is revealed to us through the world of these games and heightened after they've been changed by the electromagnetic pulse bomb.

What attracted you to the project?

I read this and I said, Man, this is crazy. What the hell is this? But man, I love it. I care. I'm interested. I like what they are saying and how they see it. Most of all, I like this character.

What did you like about Errol?

He's not trying to be a pretty boy. He's not trying to be a nice guy. He's not trying to be a like me guy. He's just himself.

I was trying to step out of doing these safe roles that we normally see on our screens.

I get a lot of offers to do romcoms, to play the ladies' man or the guy who ends up with the girl, but it's not what I'm about. I'm an actor and I'm always looking for a range of diverse extremes.

I had called my agents locally and internationally and said I'm not doing any nice guy roles for another two or three years. I'm not interested. I'd rather go without work if it's not the right kind of bad guy or crazy guy. And this character was exactly what I prayed for. I was like, Lord, this is what I've been asking you for, for so long.

Errol is complex. He's got so much range. He doesn't mean any harm but all he does is harm when he opens his mouth. He doesn't mean to be an asshole, but he just happens to be. He's a straight shooter. He doesn't think before he speaks.

WATCH THE PULSE' TRAILER HERE

Are you a gamer?

My brother is into gaming but I'm not. I'm a nature baby. I'm outdoors cycling, running or whatever. Part of my trade and part of my skill set as a performer is to step into different worlds and into the shoes of different people to make them come to life. So going into this world of gaming that I know absolutely nothing about, that challenge was already special for me.

Being a kid, seeing kids who love to game and play Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat at the spaza shop was always fascinating. I used to enjoy Street Fighter a bit, but it wasn't for me. I'd always get out early and go play football or whatever outside. But I always found those kids interesting; they'd do anything to get a fifty-cent coin to go to the arcade machines.

Errol is determined. He is driven. He is resilient. He's a fighter. He's a winner at heart. There is no question of how far he'll go to make sure that he succeeds, wins or gets his way. For me, that was what took it to the next level, where I can identify with this guy. I felt like there was so much I could offer him as a black performer, especially because of the world of gaming in the township, in Soweto, in ekasi, compared to the rest of the world.

That's his backstory. He grew up in a time where there was that one spaza shop in his township area that had one machine that all the kids came and played on. There were no TV games. One rich kid in the township had a TV game console, but that was it. So I know this kid. I saw versions of him every day. So I wanted to tap into that world to bring him to life.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Thapelo Mokoena (@mokoenalive)

--

How much research did you do to prepare for the role?

When you develop or build characters, you borrow from what is familiar and you marry that to what the story is trying to say. You accessorise and garnish with the gems you pick up from research. In this case, Sallas [multi-award-winning director Sallas de Jager of Dominee Tienie and Free State fame] shared as much as he could and I took to the internet from 2019. I was reading up on stuff.

I started watching a lot of content based around gaming, the dark web, the dark internet those types of shows. I started watching a lot of gaming shows I'd usually not watch. Now, I can't stop!I was like: Hold on, we've never seen this from an African point of view. There is no show like this from an African point of view. There isn't anything like this, period.

Gaming
LINK: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/culture/entertainment/thapelo-mokoena-...
See more stories from thesouthafrican

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

15/06/2026

University of South Carolina's Valerie Gerfin on Gamecock Productions' Growth, Upgrades at Williams-Brice Stadium

One of the more exciting internal video production divisions within a college at...

15/06/2026

Fox Corp. To Acquire Roku, Pairs Live Sports Powerhouse With Major CTV Platform

The deal valued at $22 Billion is expected to close in the first half of 2027...

15/06/2026

Golf Channel Mobile to Live Stream 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup Beginning July 13th

Golf Channel and the Arnold Palmer Cup have announced a partnership to livestream the 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup on Golf Channel Mobile and GolfChannel.com. The tou...

15/06/2026

TikTok and Panini Launch Digital Collectible Card Experience for FIFA World Cup 2026

TikTok and Panini have announced a partnership to bring a digital collectible ca...

15/06/2026

Cosm and Monster Energy Launch First Full-Dome Immersive Advertisement in Shared Reality Venues

Cosm and Monster Energy have announced the debut of the first full-dome immersiv...

15/06/2026

Fox Nation and Real American Freestyle Sign International Media Rights Deal

Real American Freestyle (RAF) and Fox Nation have announced an exclusive streaming agreement for three RAF international events, beginning with RAF Georgia on J...

15/06/2026

FanConnect and Extreme Networks Announce IPTV Integration for Large Venue Deployments

FanConnect has announced a partnership with Extreme Networks integrating FanConn...

15/06/2026

2026 Sundance Institute Ignite x Adobe Fellows Named

Ten Emerging Filmmakers Ages 18 to 25 Will Start Fellowship Year at Ignite Lab from June 14-19 LOS ANGELES, CA, June 15, 2026 - The nonprofit Sundance Institut...

15/06/2026

Rumble from UVI

Innovative three-band soft synth introduced UVI's latest synth takes an interesting approach to synthesis, offering a trio of synth engines that each op...

15/06/2026

Oram Awards 2026: Open call announcement

Applications now open for 2026 The Oram Awards have returned for 2026 to celebrate the unusual, unique and unfiltered creative worlds of women and gender-di...

15/06/2026

PSPaudioware release PSP Levelizer

New intelligent auto-fader plug-in revealed PSPaudioware's latest release offers automatic level adjustment and provides more detailed control than many...

15/06/2026

4.78M AUSSIES TUNE IN FOR SOCCEROOS WIN OVER TRKYE ON SBS

4.78M AUSSIES TUNE IN FOR SOCCEROOS WIN OVER T RK YE ON SBS 15 June, 2026 Media releases Match had a Total TV average audience of 3.035 million, with over ...

15/06/2026

SBS Head of Commissioning John Godfrey to depart after 18 years

SBS Head of Commissioning John Godfrey to depart after 18 years 15 June, 2026 Media releases SBS Head of Commissioning John Godfrey will depart the broadca...

15/06/2026

Greater Manchester Police installs Rohde & Schwarz security scanner for custody searches

Greater Manchester Police installs Rohde & Schwarz security scanner for custody ...

15/06/2026

The New Discovery Stack: AI, Metadata and Audience Intelligence

Insights from NAGRAVISION's latest industry webinar featuring One Hungary, Liberty Global and Media Press Group In this blog, Laura Rognoni explores the k...

15/06/2026

Clear-Com Introduces Avalon IP Intercom Platform

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/06/2026

DoJ Approves Paramount Skydance, Warner Bros. Discovery Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/06/2026

Clear-Com Introduces Avalon IP Station for Modern Communi...

Clear-Com has introduced Avalon , a purpose built 1RU IP intercom communication platform for modern networked production, designed to simplify and scale workfl...

15/06/2026

Fox Makes CTV Play with Roku Acquisition

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/06/2026

Gray Announces Plans to Expand Lansing, Mich. Broadcast HQ

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/06/2026

Richmond Flying Squirrels Raise the Bar for Live Baseball...

MiLB Club Deploys LDX 110 Cameras at CarMax Park to Deliver A New Standard in Engaging Fan Experience Grass Valley today announced that the Richmond Flying Sq...

15/06/2026

Detach from Direct-Attached: How Remote Editing with EVO Keeps Creative Teams Moving

Detach from Direct-Attached: How Remote Editing with EVO Keeps Creative Teams Mo...

15/06/2026

Techtel Completes Media Production Setup for a major AFL sporting organisation

Techtel Completes Media Production Setup for a major AFL sporting organisation Sports 15 June Written By Suzanne Costello (Sydney, Australia 15 June 2026)...

15/06/2026

Sky News takes viewers inside Minab in new film investigating primary school strike in Iran

Monday 15 June 2026 Sky News takes viewers inside Minab in new film investigati...

15/06/2026

Fox Corporation to Acquire Roku, Inc.

Fox Corporation to Acquire Roku, Inc. Combination Creates a Scaled Media and Technology Platform with Superior Reach, Engagement and Monetization Capability ...

14/06/2026

Detroit Drums from Iconic Instruments

Library captures 1960s R&B/pop drum sound Following on from their recent wave of plug-in effects, Iconic Instruments have just launched an all-new virtual d...

14/06/2026

HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65

HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65 Brie Clayton June 14, 2026 0 Comments Large format brings viewers intimately close to characters. Black...

13/06/2026

Rhythmic Filters for Devious Machines' Infiltrator

Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...

13/06/2026

MetaGrid Pro gains AI Builder

Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...

13/06/2026

Spectrum Reach Taps Anoki AI for Contextual Intelligence

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/06/2026

Google TV Launches Soccer Hub, New Voice Command Features

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/06/2026

YES Network and Gotham Sports App to Air Seven Athletes Unlimited Softball League Games

YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...

12/06/2026

UFL to Feature FAST Innovation Suite at 2026 United Bowl

The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...

12/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: PTZOptics and LayerJot to Demo AI-Driven Camera Control

PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...

12/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: MultiDyne to Debut VF-9100 Fiber Transport Platform and Crescendo Audio Monitor

MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...

12/06/2026

Eurovision Services Deploys Ateme Software-Based Frame-Rate Conversion

Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...

12/06/2026

Bitmovin, Simplestream, and Xperi Partner to Support OTT Services on TiVo OS

Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...

12/06/2026

Net Insight Deploys Nimbra 520 and Nimbra Edge for Multinational Corporate Live Production Workflow

Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...

12/06/2026

MLB Players Inc., Athletes First Announce Content Partnership

MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...

12/06/2026

G&D and VuWall Announce CommandKeyboard-Advanced for Network-Independent Control Room Operations

Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...

12/06/2026

Philadelphia Union and Comcast Deploy Smart Technology at Subaru Park and WSFS Bank Sportsplex

Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...

12/06/2026

Elevation Worship Completes First Leg of 2026 Tour Using SSL Live Consoles and New UMD192 Interface

Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...

12/06/2026

AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Transkoder and On-Set Dailies

AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...

12/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: Audinate To Exhibit With New AVIO Install Adapters and Iris Camera Control Platform

Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...

12/06/2026

Pac-12 Appoints Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer

Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...

12/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: Grass Valley Introduces AMPP Edge Live for Enterprise Production

Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...