Actress Beáta Green spoke to this publication about being involved on Showmax tv show, Wyfie. Picture: beata_bena_ (Instagram)
Showmax TV show Wyfie has received numerous plaudits since it premiered in February this year.
Wyfie has now bagged a nomination at the 63rd Rose d’Or Awards in London in the Best Soap or Telenovela, going up against seven-time British Academy Film Awards (Bafta) winner EastEnders and eight-time Bafta nominee Hollyoaks.
“I believe we all knew we were working on something special and different while shooting Wyfie,” one of the leading actors on the show, Beáta Green told The Citizen.
Billed as the gold standard of excellence and achievement in Entertainment programming, the Rose d’Or Awards were established in 1961 by Swiss Television in the lakeside city of Montreux and has been a flagship event for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the international TV industry ever since.
In 2019 the EBU partnered with international publishing company and digital channels business C21Media to take over the organisation of the Rose d’Or Awards.
The 58th Rose d’Or was hosted for the first time in Kings Place, London, in December 2019 by Sir Lenny Henry.
ALSO READ: Zandélle Meyer se ster skitter: Van Riekie in ‘Binnelanders’ tot universiteitsdrama ‘Wyfie
Wyfie, which premiered in February 2024, is an Afrikaans-language drama series about four young women navigating university life.
The series won Best Newcomer (Ehlers) at the 2024 kykNET Silwerskerm Awards, as well as Best Supporting Actor (Marguerite van Eeden), and the Representation of LGBTQIA+ Award for a Scripted Series at MIP Africa’s Inclusive Lens Awards, among other nominations.
The rated R series was up for Outstanding Use of Locations at the Global Production Awards, presented by Screen International, losing out to Troll, which had been Netflix’s most popular non-English film of all time.
“We are grateful when all these awards come, but deep down we all knew that this was something special,” said Green.
In September 2024, Wyfie was also up for Best International Series at The Seoul International Drama Awards.
There it competed against Chinese auteur Wong Kar-Wai (In the Mood For Love, The Grandmaster) and his multi-award-winning series Blossoms Shanghai, as well as Turkey’s Another Love, last year’s Rose d’Or winner.
ALSO READ: A year later: Angie Oeh’s voice lives on with 14 new songs [VIDEO]
Wyfie explores the friendship of four university roommates; Amanda (played by Celeste Loots), Kyla (portrayed by Kristen Raath), Mia (Mienke Ehlers) and Shay who is depicted by Green.
The latter told this publication that she had initially auditioned for both the Shay and Amanda roles. “I got two callbacks and my money was on Amanda,” said Green.
But the former Miss Teen South Africa (2013) said she believes it was written in the stars for her to play the Shay character that she eventually got, despite initially thinking Shay was boring.
“She has a specific quality, I loved the character though I thought she was boring at first but she is so chilled.”
The story is set at Stellenbosch University, an institution which Green attended herself. “I had a first-hand experience on life at Stellenbosch and the story does a good job in showing life on campus.”
The 28-year-old Green was quick to say that even though the show is true to life on campus, she didn’t experiment as her character did.
“The character’s personality was not my personality. I was not experimenting like that while I was there.”
Actress Cintaine Schutte joined the cast in the second season as Maggie, who is Shay’s older crush in the story.
In an interview, Schutte said she was glad with how authentic the story was.
“I love that there is no censoring. They don’t shy away from anything that is taboo or difficult to talk about or watch. That’s exciting for me,” she said.
The age restriction for the series is R18 because of the steamy scenes. Green said despite the raunchy nature of the show, the cast felt safe and comfortable in shooting sensitive scenes.
“There was intimacy coordination on set. I felt the safest and there was so much respect,” Green shared.
“We were all allowed to have boundaries. We could say no to certain things we didn’t feel comfortable doing. A lot of us weren’t nervous, we were pushing ourselves.”
Green said she receives support from family and friends on her participation on the show but said not everyone watches it.
“I’ve told people to not feel pressured to watch. They’re proud of what I’ve done on the show but I also understand that it’s a very niche kind of show,” said Green.
“There have been some awkward moments for my dad who can’t watch some of the episodes, but they’re all supportive and proud.”
NOW READ: Quincy Jones reportedly leaves behind R9bn for his seven kids
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
