Failed rock star dreams led Vusi Kunene into acting

A failed career as a musician led Vusi Kunene, famous for his star turn as Jack Mabaso, to being one of Mzansi’s leading thespians.

Growing up in Meadowlands, Soweto, and raised by his strict grandfather, Kunene wanted to be a rock star in a band. But talent search Shell Road to Fame crushed the now 55-year-old star’s music dreams before even taking off.

“Growing up, when I was with my friends we would sing. I remember when I was renting in Mofolo I was part of a youth club and I was always leading the choir. I also sang in a school choir and I tried to pursue singing,” Kunene recounts.

“The first time I entered Shell Road to Fame I was terrible. The second time I thought I did well and I waited for a positive response, only to get a letter of rejection. That broke me, in a way. I worked hard for that.”

On weekends, Shell Road to Fame used to hold singing, dancing and acting classes at Wits University. In an attempt to learn how to sing and play instruments, Kunene would attend those classes religiously. One day he caught an acting class and was given a small role. Kunene killed the part and his path in acting was set.

Kunene’s early work included a lot of community theatre doing plays like Strings Attached and Bambu. After dropping out of his teaching course at Vista – now University of Johannesburg – he enrolled at the Wits School of Drama in 1991.

He made an impact, starring in student plays such as Zakes Mda’s The Hill, directed by Jerry Mofokeng wa Makhetha. That’s when his long-time agent Moonyeenn Lee first spotted him and later signed him.

The professionals were still reading their scripts and that made me feel so good. In drama school you are taught to be a professional and I didn’t want anyone to look at me funny

Kunene remembers the special moment he got his first paid professional gig and it was in a play about radio directed by Robert Whitehead. Kunene was a fresh-faced star playing opposite Sue Pam Grant, Thapelo Mofokeng, Lionel Newton and Norman Anstey.

“I had a long monologue in front of hundreds of people. I got the script today and the following day I knew every line,” Kunene recalls. “The professionals were still reading their scripts and that made me feel so good. In drama school you are taught to be a professional and I didn’t want anyone to look at me funny.”

Kunene had not starred in many television or film productions apart from being a featured extra. That all changed in 1993 when he was cast in a lead role in the UK’s Channel Four series The Line, about the battle between ANC and IFP.

“It caused serious controversy in the country. On the day it was shown the country stood still. We had to hide. That was a massive and frightening blessing,” Kunene says.

After the series aired, Kunene experienced his first dry spell in acting. But it ended with his role in Hollywood film Cry, The Beloved Country in 1995 directed by Darrell Roodt and starring James Earl Jones and Richard Harris.

After Kunene impressed in a smaller role, he was asked to audition for the bigger role of Rev Theophilus Msimangu and he landed it.

“Between the two roles there were doubts. I didn’t know where I was going. After The Line things went quiet and that shook me. I had auditions and didn’t do well,” Kunene shares. “I started questioning if I was meant for this and wanted to walk away. Then suddenly I got a call to do Cry, The Beloved Country.

“It has been a lonely road, in the sense that you can’t share that with someone else that will understand. “It’s been a paved road. There have been puddles, there have been rough turns and there have been dry patches. Dry patches hit hard but there was that little hope in me that kept me going.”

In the years that followed, Kunene was known for his remarkable theatre work and The Coloured Museum is one play that stands out for him.

Kunene had mentioned casually to Lee that he wanted to portray a bad guy. Soon thereafter Lee informed him that Mfundi Vundla wanted Kunene to play the role of Jack Mabaso that turned him into a superstar in the early 2000s.

He had never done a soapie before. The role was initially meant to be 10 calls, but turned into three months and eventually years before he left in the late 2000s and returned in 2016.

“A lot of people don’t know my real name, but they know Jack Mabaso. He has become like clothing to me,” Kunene says. “When I get cast I’m either asked to be like Jack or not be like Jack. It’s a challenge for me to want to be different and it’s one I want.”

After leaving the role, playing other villainous roles such as Jefferson Sibeko in Isidingo and Bhekifa Ngubane in Isibaya followed. Kunene confesses that leaving Generations the first time around was a rude awakening as he felt like he had lost his edge.

“After Generations it took a while to get back into the groove. I had never been in a soapie before and I got there and got used to the constant income,” Kunene says. “It felt good and when it ended it got me thinking how I survived before I did a soapie. Things were not bad, but they were slow. Even when I made good money, I started to think ... how long before you get the next job?”

Kunene has once again left the role that made him a household name. He will lead the cast of new e.tv daily drama House of Zwide that replaces Rhythm City. Debuting on Monday, viewers will be introduced to Kunene as Funani Zwide.

“I have always been looking for something different. When you do soapies it gets routine because you start to get comfortable and I was looking for something different,” Kunene says.

“You can expect to see a show that tells you about fashion, but that there is more to fashion than the glamour side. You can expect Vusi to play a different role than the kind people expect him to play.  He’s definitely not an antagonist.”

Fact file: Vusi Kunene

Favourite actor: Fana Mokoena

Favourite musician: Tsepo Tshola

Favourite song: Superstar by Luther Vandross

Favourite sports star: Bashin Mahlangu

Favourite soccer team: Orlando Pirates

Favourite emoji: High five

Top three movies on my playlist:

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Ngaka

A United Kingdom