We have all been in class with a class clown, and Tshepo Matlala, who is a breakout supporting actor on Youngins, always manages to make people crack a smile, burst into laughter, or cringe at the thought of what he is about to do.
Matlala plays the role of Tshepo Masemola, and he says he is able to keep viewers laughing even when he is at his worst.
He manages to make his pranks come to life, from the script to the small screens, by exaggerating every moment.
“In episode seven, the assistant director and the director gave me an idea of how the scene should play out,” he shared.
Planned improvisation
“And the performer in me comes out to support Tshepo Masemola. I fell in love with physical theatre, clowning, miming, and slapstick, so I take all those things to that performance because Tshepo’s character is larger than life.
“I’m very good when it comes to planned improvisation within the script. It is up to me to direct the narrative of what’s supposed to happen in that scene. When I’m bored sometimes, I’m thinking, ‘how is this thing going to play out?
“And if I’m still wearing my personal clothes, I don’t feel anything. But the moment I wear that school uniform, in the environment that he’s in, with the people that he sees, something shifts.”
Hatred for queer people
He explained that some of the things that he hates about Tshepo are his hatred for queer people.
“I don’t know what influences that thing. Is it a ‘monkey-see, monkey-do’ thing?
“I think he grew up in a society where there is a man and a woman, and this other thing is nonsense, and [he grew up in] a religious manner, where if you are queer, you are satanic, you are demonic, and all those things.”
