Actress Kgomotso Christopher talks about enjoying her long-distance relationship while pursuing her acting career.
Kgomotso played Katlego Sibeko in SABC3’s Isidingo for years before leaving the show in 2016 without another job lined up. “I just decided I needed to grow. I didn’t know into what, but after five years on the show I could tell there was no vision for my growth as an artist.
“I was very strong in my spiritual resolve that I needed to make a break into something new. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I was just armed with the faith.” Kgomotso joined Rockville a few weeks after leaving Isidingo and has been busy ever since. When she was offered the role on Scandal! she turned it down initially, she says.
Her character, Yvonne, is a 50-something woman and she didn’t feel she was the right person. “At the time I wasn’t even close to 40. I’m an actress and I can do whatever role I get but I think we also need to be careful about taking our audiences for granted.” She didn’t think she could do justice to the character. Luckily, the producers understood her concerns and asked her to recon- sider.
They worked on her wardrobe to make her look mature and fit the character description. “They said they’d find a way to build it so that when people see me, they see a mature woman who is also naughty. So, I had to trust them. And I’m so grateful they had the faith in me.” Kgomotso loves her character because she’s everything the actress isn’t. “She’s loud and she’s lazy. Okay, I can also be lazy,” she concedes. “But she’s a shopaholic and I’m not.”
Her husband does the shopping for her, she shares. “Fashion and clothes don’t occupy my mind and my children are exactly the same.” The couple will be celebrating their 15th anniversary this year. They met as students at the University of Cape Town, where American-born Calvin was an exchange student from Princeton University. They’ve been inseparable since then and he is her greatest supporter.
“On my first lead role we had to go for pole-dancing lessons and the person who helped me rehearse was my husband.” She’s not fazed by her long-distance marriage, the Thembisa-born actress says. “We travel a lot. He was in the States and he’s lived in Asia. “This is the kind of relationship I wanted to have – one where I get to explore the world with my family.”
Kgomotso’s children are currently learning Arabic in Dubai and she admits it does bother her that the kids can’t speak any South African language “but I’m working on it”. She’s proud her children are also interested in the arts, especially Larona, who plays the flute. “I encourage that as well. If music is her thing, that’s fantastic. I support her wholeheartedly.” Just as wholeheartedly, it seems, as the children and their dad support their award-winning mom and wife.
