Legacy’s Sebastian ‘SJ’ Price spills the tea

The latest inductee into the South African television hunk hall of fame, Anton David Jeftha is steadily cementing his place in the hearts of women across the land thanks to his latest role as naive rich boy Sebastian Price Junior.

Additionally, he’s quite interactive on his social media, watching M-Net’s new telenovela, Legacy, along with viewers and posting a picture or three for his new fans to fawn over as they fall deeper and deeper in love with him each week.

Speaking to the Citizen, Jeftha expressed how he feels about the show’s reception three weeks in, adding that he hopes that things not only stay this way but that they ramp up as more and more people tune in.

“It’s nice to see that everybody is enjoying the show, knowing that we stopped filming during such a difficult time and you know, everyone is putting in so much work and I think M-Net and Tshedza [Pictures] have really gone out of their way to employ some of the best in the game. So from what I’ve seen, I think everyone has received the show really well.”

The show began on a landmark day for the Price family as their investment company’s CEO and the Price family patriarch, Sebastian senior (Deon Lotz), is set to step down from his role after 30 years at the helm.

He is also expected to announce his successor – something that has his family, the media and the nation at large on tenterhooks.

An unexpected tragedy then (conveniently) befalls the family, leaving a power vacuum that kicks off the race to fill the multi-billion-rand company’s leadership position and keep Sebastian senior’s legacy alive.

Lies, scheming and plotting ensue across a set of 30-minute episodes that all make sure to end on a frustrating note.

This frustration has left viewers aching for episode after episode, as they try to figure out who’s team they are on, just who the real protagonists and antagonists are, and whether or not justice will ever be served.

According to Jeftha, he and his castmates feel exactly the way the viewers at home feel as they are seeing the fully packaged story for the first time.

“We’ve shot and filmed so much, and once that’s done, we leave it in the hands of the editors, so often when these episodes air, we’re not sure, as actors, what to expect on that episode because the storyline could have changed quite a bit,” explained Jeftha.

“But, I’m always holding my breath and I’m always curious as to what comes next. I feel as though I’m just as much a part of the audience, funny enough, on this because I’m learning and going along on the journey with them,” he added.

It’s somewhat comforting to know that when the castmates live tweet for the show and express their surprise, they are doing so sincerely.

Who is SJ Price?

“This is my ifrst time doing a Telenovela, so it’s quite a long length type production. You know, we’re filming 208 episodes for the first season. So one of the notes I got in the beginning was that as we go on, we’re going to get to know each character and know where to sort of place them.”

Which means that at this stage, we don’t really know who SJ is. However, according to Jeftha, he has a basic character outline that he seems to be sticking to quite well.

“Initially my note was, you know SJ, he’s obviously the son of this billionaire Sebastian senior and dynamic businesswoman, Dineo Price, and they told me that while he is that type of kid, he’s still down to earth. He’s a little bit naive and trusting. He tries to see the good in everyone and because he’s so naive, it’s actually hard for him to see when people are being manipulative and when people are trying to use him.”

Jeftha added that he believes that as the story line goes on and SJ gets more life experience, he will change and grow accordingly.

Though the show is multi-lingual, there are some characters who stick to English and English only, like SJ and his sister Lexi, who just last week reminded her family that she does not speak Afrikaans (with a tone that seems like she has no intention of learning it either.)

When asked if his character will be following in the same vein, Jeftha explains that he has been in talks with production about getting in touch with SJ’s Sotho side.

However, those scenes may take a while to make their way onto our screens, as the team has wrapped up filming the first section of season one and SJ speaks no Sesotho in any of the episodes we’re seeing now and in the weeks to come.

“What I will say about SJ is that he makes more of an effort to accommodate everyone, so in the show as time goes on, I think there will be more of a couple of scenes where he throws in some Afrikaans or he throws in a Sotho word here or there.”

SJ and Petra, sitting in a tree…

Jeftha also confirmed a tidbit to the Citizen that he dropped in a past interview about how his audition for the show was a chemistry test with Trix Vivier (the actress who plays Petra Potgieter).

Just last week, Perta saw SJ for the first time and for her, it was love at first sight. Over time, it seems SJ will come to feel the same way about her.

However, this poses quite an interesting dilemma for the pair as her brother (Stefan) is the one who killed SJ’s father. Although neither of them are currently aware of this, the truth can only stay hidden for so long.

Legacy currently airs exclusively on M-Net (DStv channel 101) from Monday to Thursday at 11pm.

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