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Zondi portrays young sprinter Siya ‘Bolt’ Gumede who gets a life-changing scholarship to a prestigious school in Johannesburg.
Thadolwethu Zondi has opened up about playing the lead on Netflix GO! series. Picture; Supplied by Netflix
Young actor Thandolwethu Zondi said he didn’t really feel the pressure of being the lead in the Netflix series GO! at first because he didn’t know what it was like to be a lead in such a big production.
“Only now, when we started doing all these things that I’m like ‘oh, so is that how it works,’…obviously having also done other shows, now I understand what it means to be the lead,” Zondi told The Citizen.
Zondi portrays young sprinter Siya ‘Bolt’ Gumede, who gets a life-changing scholarship to a prestigious school in Johannesburg.
However, while racing toward his dreams, he must also outrun the trauma and painful memories that haunt him, learning that the actual race is not only on the track but also within himself.
“It happened so quickly that I hadn’t even prepared for it,” he said of getting the role.
“It was overwhelming at first, but what I took out of it was that everyone’s working, it’s like you’re sponging in anything and everything they’re telling you because everyone was helping me. I’d say it was educational but at the same time overwhelming.”
Zondi has been an athlete his whole life, having played soccer and rugby during his school days.
“I actually played nationally for soccer and [played] for the Sharks in rugby. I also studied sports management and science, so my whole life was centred around sport,” he said.
The other likenesses that Zondi has with the character he portrays on GO! Is their background.
“I also live in a township. There was a time when my mom didn’t have a car-that taxi to school was unusual for the guys,” he shared.
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Seasoned actress Dawn Thandeka King, who portrays Zondi’s mother in the series, said it was important for her and Zondi to have a strong relationship off-screen.
“That chemistry session that we had was the reason we did what we did. We forgot we were not mother and son. When we were on set, that was the order of the day — I was his mom, and that was the energy around us always.”
“Honestly, I’m grateful that production saw that as one of the most important things to do before we started shooting,” averred King.
Actors Ntobeko Sishi, Daanyaal Ally and Aidia De Meyer play Zondi’s mates at the prestigious school.
“Given how little time we spent on the set compared to him, he had already done weeks’ worth of work,” said Sishi on whether h felt the responsibility to support Zondi.
“So by the time we came in, he and Tristan had already built a rapport [and] we were just meeting Tristan.”
Like each cast member, Sishi heaped praise on the director, Tristan Holmes.
“Tristan, I’d say, guided all of us in that way. I was also learning on the day, having been cast so quickly in terms of the turnaround time and the amount of research. I didn’t really get the chance to think that I could step in and be some sort of…[leader]”
The series has a stellar cast that includes Wiseman Mncube, who plays the role of Zondi’s brother on the show.
The series will make its premiere on Netflix on 21 March.
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