LIMPOPO – Known as Sipho on the telenovella Ubetina Wethu, footballer Pholoso Kupa is really a Jack of all Trades.
Kupa, who hails from Ga-Mamatsha, started his soccer career at Bidvest Wits (u/12) and was later signed by Moroka Swallows as an u/17 player.
He said he got hooked on acting after he accompanied a friend to auditions.
He started out as an extra in the soapie, Generations, and this is how he really got schooled in the craft, he told CV.
“I gained as much knowledge as I could, and took acting lessons before I also tried out for roles during auditions.”
His first role was a commercial advertisement, and this was followed by stints in Ubettina Wethu season 2, DJ Jazz on the Estate, Gadaffi on Erased, and Thabo on MTT Shuga.
Quitting soccer at a time when his family and community thought he’d be “the next best thing” was quite a challenge, he told CV.
“They were laughing at me, saying I don’t belong in acting. But I soldiered on and told myself this is something I want to make work. Thanks to the late Dumi Masilela as my inspiration, I think I am on a good trajectory to make it big. It wasn’t always as rosy as it seemed. At one point, I lost count of how many auditions I had gone to and was rejected. Once, I went for an audition for a popular soapie. But because I didn’t have money, I had to walk to the audition venue for two hours and I still didn’t get the part. I remember walking back home in tears.”
Ironically, it is not the money or the fame that excites him about acting, but the challenge of portraying a particular character. I love a good challenge, and I hope one day I will get to play a gangster or a nyaope boy instead of the pretty-boy characters I have been playing.”
Being an actor means a lot to him, he said, as getting into character is makes that character believable to the audience.
“My goal is to land a role on Skeem Saam or Generations, as it would be a dream to work for a production that has so many viewers.”
He said his biggest achievement was finally transitioning from being just an extra on set, to being an actor – someone who gets a role, and a script.
Besides acting, he also works as a production assistant.
“We produce reality shows. I have been patient, but I eventually got my opportunity. Sometimes, people see you on screen and think you made it overnight. If you are not patient, you won’t make it,” he said.
