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Johannesburg - Actress and TV host Thembisa Mdoda has a simple, straightforward career plan: to be the best in her field.
“This has been my year of blessings, from scooping awards and doing a radio show on Touch HD to acting in a movie,” she says.
This shows that her plan is working.
The 34-year-old walked away with a Golden Horn for Favourite TV Presenter at the SA Film and Television Awards in March, for presenting the hit reality show Our Perfect Wedding.
And, last month, she clinched two trophies at the inaugural DStv Mzansi Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, winning in the TV Presenter and Ultimate Viewers’ Choice categories.
Mdoda plans to return to her first love: theatre. So, when she is not learning her lines from a script, she is slogging away at the gym “to gain some stamina” and prepare mentally for appearing on stage.
“It is going to be a little tough for me now that I have left Our Perfect Wedding after nearly two years on the show, but I feel up to the challenge,” she says, adding that she will always cherish the wedding show for helping her build a name for herself and giving her the freedom to explore her talent.
The actress has been working on a film with other big names such as Dineo Ranaka, Salamina Mosese and Sthembiso “SK” Khoza.
Billed as a romantic comedy, it tells the story of four women who are in various stages of being a “baby mama”.
It is set for release next year.
Mdoda says she enjoyed being on set and appreciated the team spirit and female camaraderie during filming.
“It was so wonderful working with my co-stars on the film,” she says. So much so that it gave the lie to the “stereotype that women cannot work together”.
Mdoda adds that people will enjoy the movie as it deals with the themes of family, love, the ups and downs that women experience in life and the value of friendship.
Mdoda, who is the former wife of actor Atandwa Kani, says she has moved on because she still believes in love.
She admits that the breakup of her marriage was rough, but is optimistic about the future – especially now that she has a new man in her life.
We press her for details, but she refuses to divulge his identity, telling us instead of her other passion – fashion.
“I used to watch my lovely mother, how she wore her dresses,” she says, adding that she used to help style her mum when she was going on a night out with her dad.
“I would love to have my own fashion line in the future and style women of different sizes and cultures,” she says.
(Photo: Supplied)
