-- Shoki Mokgapa: the pursuit of mastery --
Mon, 09 Nov 2015 09:55
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SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE: South African actress Shoki Mokgapa recently took the award for Best Actress at the KykNet Silwerskermfees for her role in Sink. After featuring in the second season of television drama series The Lab in 2008, she has appeared in a number of local and international productions such as Nothing for Mahala; Dredd and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Mokgapa shares with Screen Africa what she has learnt from her experience as an actress, the industry challenges she faces and her advice for aspiring actors.
What was it like winning the Best Actress award at the recent Silwerskermfees?
I have never felt more loved than I did that night. Mostly because this journey is so long, and so very lonely, and to finally receive a nod or a nudge in the right direction after what has seemed like years of swimming in the dark, is well I have no words for it accept that I feel validated.
What has been your most challenging role to date and why?
I ve never thought of it in terms of challenging roles . For me it s always been about the roles that lead you to question more and think more, than the roles that you can do with your eyes closed. Actually I lie, the most challenging roles are the roles you can do with your eyes closed. They are written with no thought or rhyme or reason, and basically all you have to do is say the line and leave. Those roles are challenging because they can destroy you as an actor, they are uninspired and therefore leave you uninspiring. They make you restless and fidgety as you desperately try to clutch at straws to find some kind of meaning. But there is no meaning. Tough.
Which has been your favourite character to portray?
My favourite characters to play thus far have been those who have been the most troubled, the dark, and misunderstood, the ones that have had questionable morals. I have been fortunate enough to play a few, so it s hard to say which my favourite is. But they all have a theme. They are the lesser among us; those are by far most interesting, and challenging because they take more time and work to understand. So you dig and dig and dig until you find out how they came to be. And how they mask all that pain and complexity and darkness into characters that we may not like. We call them evil, or the villain, or the antagonist.
Those characters have always forced me to look at my own humanity, all the things about me that are profound and profane, and not judge them as being good or evil. Which is how my soul works, and all our souls work actually.
What is your process when preparing for a role?
I don t think I have a process, although I m trying to have one because it makes me sound smart! I guess I always begin with myself. Where I am emotionally, and then dig from there. I think its important to find a heart connection with the character, or its humanity, the why the character is. If I can find it in myself, then I ve nailed the character. I know why she speaks like she does, I know what she s thinking, and I don t even have to remember the lines or words spoken, because the role is within in me.
What do you do when you aren t acting in movies?
What most other actors do, look for more work! And odd jobs, I am the queen of odd jobs and the how did you end up there? It s not glamorous at all, in fact all the glamour is on the screen. I wish I had more to offer on this subject, but I have nothing.
Do you have any mentors in the industry?
Well I have a few mentors in my life, some of them in the industry most of them not. For me a mentor is someone gives you hug when you re down, and a swift boot in your bottom when you need it. I have never separated my self-life from my work life, because they are one in the same thing, mentors can appear anywhere. It s someone or someones that encourage you to keep going.
What have you learnt from the directors that you have worked with throughout your career?
The best lesson ever I ever learnt from a director was to be an actor, but to do something else. At the time I didn t understand, I thought he meant that I wasn t good enough to crack it as an actor. But later I realised what he actually meant. As an actor it s so easy to fall into the trap of wanting and finding work and being a working actor, and if I m not acting does that mean I m not good enough and I need work to validate me and and and
So being focused on your work in the pursuit of its mastery is important, but do something else. Otherwise it consumes you, and your work becomes heavy, and acting is supposed to be fun, because it is. I think what he was trying to say is: don t take yourself so seriously.
Ever tempted to get behind the camera and try your hand at writing/producing/directing?
I don t quite trust myself as an actor yet, so I fear that if I can t moderate my own performance, Im not sure if I ll be able to moderate another actors performance. It s all self-worth things that Im working on, but in the meantime, I would like to try my hand at writing. Not story stuff, just rambling ideas that someone could help put into something that makes sense.
Where do you think the local industry is getting it right, and where is it getting it wrong?
There is so much good that is happening at the moment, I just wish there could be more creative control given to creative types than to the people who sign the cheques. Too much thinking, not enough feeling I say. I did mention I was a hippie right?
What does the future of film in Africa look like to you?
My hope is for more meaty roles for women, of course. But mainly if we can be willing and if the rest of the world can will it so, to look at Africa and African stories that are not just about war and strife, but everyday things like love, and aspiration, and the pursuit of happiness
