Five Legendary Performances by Veteran Actress Connie Chiume
We look into some of the memorable roles that the long-serving South African actress played during her impactful life.
Tributes have been pouring in since yesterday’s news that the veteran South African actress Connie Chiume has passed away. She was loved by people in her home country and embodied the ethos of a seasoned thespian in every on-screen role she took on.
An old clip of her appearance on The Felicia Show has surfaced online in which she states her reasons for being in the entertainment industry. “We’re in this field, not because we thought we were gonna be rich. I believe in a thing called a calling, I believe that God has called me to be where I am. I didn’t come here for drama or for money, but I need to get what I deserve.”
In light of her untimely passing, and to celebrate all that she represented to South Africa’s cultural fabric, here are some of her memorable on-screen appearances.
‘Zone 14’
In Zone 14, Chiume played the role of Stella and had a soccer team called the Stella Stars. She was the matriarch of an affluent family in the hood, and the mastermind behind a lot of bad occurrences. She was so charming in her role playing the villain that it became possible to overlook all the bad that she unleashed. Talking to King David Studio, she expressed her disappointment at having been typecast until she got that role.
‘Black Panther’ and ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’
She was the Mining Tribe elder who brought a realistic, relatable edge to the Black Panther enterprise. Wakanda became an actual place because of her and a couple of the African cast. She has spoken before about how she had no idea how big Black Panther was until her fellow actors on Gomora hipped her up to it during their lunch break when the news leaked. “I said: ‘I’m going to shoot Black Panther,’ and iyhooo, all of a sudden everyone was screaming and on their feet and they showed me on Google whom I was going to be working with. I was just numb.”
‘Black is King’
Chiume once again blessed the extended Disney universe by appearing in Beyonce’s Black is King. Speaking about how she got the role, she told the SABC that her agent had called her after a long day of getting rejected at auditions. The request on the other side of the line was whether she would be able to get on a flight to America that very night. She hesitated, until she heard who wanted her there.
‘Rhythm City’
The Rhythm City role as bra Kop’s wife, Mamokete Khuse, was one of the longest that she has played. They owned a transportation business, and Mamokete was the beloved mother of the community. “This woman was almost like the anchor of the community — people in need, lost children and all that. She would always bring them home, look after them. Mamokete was a loving woman, she loved her Kops,” she told the MacG podcast.
‘Gomora’
Gomora | Mzansi MagicAnother memorable role is that of mam’ Sonto in the television series, Gomora. In sending her condolences, fellow actress Rami Chuene has stated that she is in disbelief. “She’s so young, full of life, always bubbly, always ready to get down, to dance, to have a party, and obviously to work hard. Such a legend and such an icon. To now speak about her in the past has been one of the most difficult things we have experienced. The entertainment industry and the country at large is just shocked.”
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