Exclusive: Anton Jeftha on love for Afrikaans dialogue

South African actor Anton Jeftha, who stars as Brandon Cloete on kykNET & kie’s telenovela Skemergrond, opened up about his love for scripted Afrikaans dialogue, in an exclusive interview with The South African.

ANTON JEFTHA: ‘AFRIKAANS IS ALWAYS A BEAUTIFUL CHALLENGE’

Legacy star Anton Jeftha is set to play the role of Brandon Cloete on kykNET & kie’s telenovela Skemergrond. The actor will make his debut on Skemergrond on Monday 9 September.

Brandon is the owner of the Dance Studio, who flees to Gemoedsdrif to escape a loan shark. Anton, who is English speaking, had to learn his lines in Afrikaans for the series. He expressed that Afrikaans has always been a “beautiful challenge” for him as he comes from a home where his parents spoke Afrikaans to each other, but English to the kids.

He went on to say that he attended English schools so he favoured English.

“Afrikaans is always a beautiful challenge for me. Beautiful in that it takes me back to my roots. I grew up in a household where my folks spoke Afrikaans to each other and English to the kids. We went to Afrikaans churches but English schools so naturally I favoured English,” he said exclusively to The South African.

He went on to note that while it has been challenging for him, it has also been “heaps of fun.”

“I love scripted Afrikaans dialogue, the writers do their best to keep it culturally appropriate and we are given freedom to change certain words while sticking to the story. So, its been challenging as any new project would be but also heaps of fun,” he continued.

ANTON JEFTHA ON PLAYING BRANDON CLOETE

Anton also described his character, Brandon as a “secretive guy.”

“Brandon is an ambitious but very secretive guy. There are reasons for his ‘madness’ but all in all they’re born out of keeping his family safe and having the courage to pursue his dreams. He loves his wife, and he loves to dance,” he said.

Brandon is married to Sylvia, played by Melissa de Vries. Anton said that the actress is a joy to work with.

“Melissa is an absolute joy to work with, she is talented, hilarious, serious about her craft and just an all round lekker human being. She is a naturally supportive co star and we have since day 1 pledged to be there for each other through this journey. So, working with her has been incredible,” he continued.

The actor also had to put on his dancing shoes for this role as he had to go through rehearsals and more to prepare for his character.

“Closer to any important dance on screen dates we had a professional choreographer ‘Janine’ who taught us moves that would sell on camera and we’d work with her twice weekly. This was incredible and such a privilege getting to pick up a new skill,” he said.

Anton went on to express that he loved the cast on Skemergrond.

“I love the cast. It’s a highly spirted bunch of artists who hold the culture and authentic story telling to a high regard. Everyone is pretty serious about the work and yet knows how to have a massive laugh when camera’s aren’t rolling,” he concluded.

kykNET hosted their annual Silwerskerm Awards for Film and TV on Saturday 31 August at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). Take a look at all the winners here.

ARE YOU AN ANTON JEFTHA FAN?

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