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Actress Gail Mabalane is basking in the praise she is receiving on social media and from her peers for her first main role as Zenzile Mwale on the Netflix thriller Unseen after 10 years in the industry.
Netflix premièred its latest South African original series, Unseen, last week and since then “Gail Mabalane” and “Zenzile Mwale” have topped the Twitter trends list.
Fans and industry peers have had nothing but amazing things to say about Gail’s acting and the story as a whole.
“She gave that role everything in her. What a star,” said one fan.
“I am probably hoping for a lot, but if they submit this series for the Emmys, Gail Mabalane could potentially win an Emmy,” said another fan.
Actress Tsholo Matshaba thanked the actress for her devotion to the role.
“Not only a pleasure to watch but to listen to an actor put aside their ‘model C’ English aside to serve a character with a befitting accent.
“. . . And a pleasure to watch an actor being a canvas for the makeup department, being stripped of eyeshadow, lipstick, eyelashes, foundation to being bare, met droei lippe (dry lips). . . What a breath of fresh air. . . Thoroughly enjoyed your craftsmanship,” tweeted the actress.
The premise centres on Zenzile preparing to welcome her husband Max (Vuyo Dabula) back home after spending time behind bars. However, when she goes to fetch him, she learns he was released earlier in the day. Now missing, Zenzile sets out to find him only to find herself entangled in the merciless criminal underworld. Her character is described as a nondescript domestic worker who searches for her missing husband but comes up against powerful and violent criminals.
Unseen was filmed in Cape Town in the heart of winter, with many scenes shot in the middle of the night.
In an interview with News24, Mabalane talked about the character that allowed her to go where she has never been before as an actor.
What makes the South African adaptation different is its “very local feel”, says Mabalane.
“I think what’s very different is that Unseen is told through a very South African lens. We get to see a lot more and a different side of Cape Town. We get to see it very much within the South African context with the languages and the characters,” she explains further.
Mabalane did not think she would get the role when she auditioned.
“I remember auditioning for Zenzi, and in my mind . . . I wouldn’t say I’ve been typecast, but there have definitely been similarities to the characters I’ve played before. This was a completely different character, something that I’d never done before. And I think even to a degree thought, ‘I’m probably not going to get it’.”
Days later, she got the call back that the role was hers, which she described as exciting and challenging.
“This is my second Netflix show. I was excited about how different it was from the Thandeka character I play on Blood & Water.”
With the show being a thriller, Mabalane had both physical and emotional challenges.
Since her television debut, she has played various roles — from a chic fashion editor in The Wild, singer Stella in The Road, a black diamond in Rockville, to Thandeka, a mother searching for her lost daughter in Blood & Water. — TimesLive/News24
Online Reporter