Publications
Partners
- M-Net's new limited series Devil's Peak had its red carpet premiere on 5 October 2023.
- Devil's Peak airs Sunday, 29 October at 20:00, on M-Net DStv channel 101.
- The actors spoke to News24 about working on the show.
Devil's Peak, the M-Net crime thriller based on the 2004 Deon Meyer novel, plunges viewers into a portrayal of Cape Town that feels too real; it exposes the dark underbelly of the city and the violence that pervades its streets.
The show's interwoven narrative follows detective Benny Griessel as he tries to track down a vigilante known as the Assegai Killer.
The series stars Hilton Pelser, Sisanda Henna, Shamilla Miller, Tarryn Wyngaard, Gérard Rudolf, Masasa Mbangeni, Litha Bam, Tshamano Sebe, Lee Roodt, Soli Philander and others.
The five-part limited series airs 29 October Sunday at 20:00 on M-Net (DStv 101). BBC Studios will distribute the series internationally.
READ MORE | Catch the first glimpse of M-Net's latest international co-production, crime thriller Devil's Peak
Modernising the source material
The series had its red carpet premiere on 5 October at the Nasdak in Cape Town.
The writer of the show, Matthew Orton, shares that from the get-go, he wanted to adapt the book to a modern setting.
"The book is quite old. One of the first things I made sure to do was ask Deon whether he'd be comfortable with me modernising it."
Meyer was keen on the idea and was generous with his time and characters, Orton says.
For the show's research process, they interviewed gangsters, hit men, detectives, policemen, politicians, etc. "We used that source material along with Deon's story to inform [the series]."
'It felt like home'
Hilton Pelser plays the leading role of the self-destructive Benny Griessel, who is trying to take down a vast crime network. His reputation as a lawman precedes him, but his personal life is falling apart.
Pelser says it felt like "home" working on Devil's Peak. "It felt like a space where an actor could really be what they really want to be as performers and artists. That space isn't created easily; it's done by people who care."
He wanted to adequately portray Benny's chaotic life and delve into the darkness of the character.
"I have had a very privileged life and I don't think I've experienced the violence, chaos and darkness that Benny Griessel has," Pelser admitted. However, he could relate to other, more universal aspects of his character, like his anxiety.
The role came with personal challenges, but it was easy for him to get the portrayal right after reading the script.
Benny sees violence and experiences trauma on a daily basis and turns to substances to cope.
The research process also helped him understand the character more.
"A lot of the detectives that we spoke to beforehand talked about the nightmares and the night terrors and the voices of the victims they couldn't save."
'The space was so special'
Shamilla Miller calls the experience of playing Anna Griessel, the wife of Benny Griessel, "empowering".
She feels that the space created by Jozua Malherbe, the director, aided a conducive environment.
"I was working on two productions at the same time. So I was flying between Cape Town and Durban," she shares.
"Coming onto this set, just the way it was run, everything was structured… The space was so special." It reminded her why she does her job, she says.
Anna's relationship with Benny is almost at a breaking point, Miller adds. "But you have to understand that there's been this build-up. They've been sweethearts for so long and they've journeyed together."
She also drew from her own experiences to play the character.
Sisanda Henna on doing his own stunts
Sisanda Henna plays one of the 'antagonists' and main characters of the series, Thobela Mpayipheli, or the Assegai Killer. The character becomes a vigilante after his son is murdered.
Henna says that he felt his age during the role. "I realised I wasn't quite ready for the action."
He did stunts and occasionally hurt himself. "I was insisting on doing my own stunts," he says with a tinge of regret.
At the forefront of Thobela's character is his grief and anger, which is expressed through violence.
"The grief and the loss was more of the focus."
'A real moment in SA television'
For Tarryn Wyngaard, who plays the character Christine van Rooyen, the experience was physically and emotionally challenging. She plays a mother struggling to make ends meet who is drawn into the world of the Assegai Killer.
"I had a particularly challenging character," she says. Her story involved themes of gender-based violence.
"The preparation for it was just trying to be rooted and grounded."
She calls playing the character a "physical feat". With her make-up, Malherbe would try to "break her down" to look more raw.
She continues:
"As a woman in South Africa, a young woman, it's not hard to find inspiration or connect with that fear and fragility. But I think what was beautiful in me playing this character was understanding that her fragility is actually her strength."
Veteran actor Soli Philander, who plays a minor character in the series, shares their experience on the show was extremely positive. For them, the production felt like it was at an international standard.
"It felt like a real moment in South African television," Philander says.
