Brenda Ngxoli on her role on The River, and how life has changed

If you’ve seen Brenda Ngxoli on TV, you’ll understand why the country is crazy about her. The actress, who stole fans’ hearts when she played Vuyo on hit drama series Home Affairs back in the day, is undoubtedly one of South Africa’s best and most loved actresses.

After disappearing from the small screen for a while, the International Emmy Award-nominated star made a comeback as Dambisa Dikana on 1Magic’s The River. Her grand entrance on the show in December 2018 had supporters losing their minds.

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Speaking about how she landed the role, Brenda said on Trending SA this week: “I did get a very pleasant call from the producers who then offered me a role. We then discussed, looked at ways… We spoke about what I’d like to play, where we’d like to go and stuff like that. Yes, I then landed that role and we agreed.”

In case you’re wondering how things are going for Brenda on set, she revealed: “I’m having fun, they’re an absolutely beautiful family.”

So, does an Emmy-nominated thespian still stand in those long audition lines, hoping for a big break? Well, sometimes.

The actress shared: “I have auditioned, and I have prided myself on auditioning for a lot the things I’ve gotten. But I also won’t lie, I have also been offered roles – but with the offer also comes putting yourself on tape so that they can see you, that you do work.”

You’ve probably noticed that Brenda has been MIA for quite some time. Well, that’s because she decided to move back to her home village in the Eastern Cape a few years ago and she’s happier than ever.

“I made a decision to go home because I was not happy in Johannesburg,” she said on Real Talk with Anele last year. She explained that she realised that maybe the environment was not for her. “So, I went home and I found Brenda, I re-found myself.”

And no, she’s not struggling to get work. The SAFTA-winning star shared that she still gets booked even though she’s not in the big city.

“You want me, you call me like everybody else,” she told Anele Mdoda on the show.

We have no doubt that she’ll continue to captivate the audience for many years to come. While her character is not on screen at the moment, you can find every single episode of the telenovela on Showmax, as well as new episodes, which air 15 minutes after the DStv broadcast.

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