Shona Ferguson’s ‘The Queen’ character written off
Veteran actor and co-founder of Ferguson Films, Shona Ferguson, has decided to ditch his character, Jerry Maake, on Mzansi Magic soapie The Queen because it had become too difficult to portray the character after the death of his father.
This decision, according to the actor, was not taken well by his mother, who was fond of the character adapted from the life of her husband, Pastor PH Ferguson.
Speaking to Sunday World, Ferguson said he had not told his mother about his decision to leave the character and, like everyone else, she found out when the news was announced by the producers.
“She was not happy because I didn’t tell her I was leaving the character,” he said.
However, he said this was not new to him and the producers as the character was killed two years ago only to return.
“At that time, it was deliberate and the character was not dead, and was carried out to introduce Jerry Maake’s son, played by Thato Molamu into the storyline. We knew that people would start talking about the story arch,” Ferguson said.
The actor said ever since his father died, the character had become challenging for him to bring to life.
But the decision to write him off was also taken because the character no longer fits into the narrative of the soapie.
“We had to be honest with the story first, and the decision also shows that I’m not bigger than the story itself.”
The actor, who is married to veteran actress, Connie Ferguson, said the decision to exit the character was his way of gravitating towards retirement as an actor and making the transition to behind-the-scenes roles full time.
He said he was considering working on two more projects before hanging up his acting boots. The Rockville actor said the decision to consider retirement was informed by his long-held vision, which he adopted when he entered the industry years ago, to gradually move into the creative part of the production.
“When I started in the industry, I gave myself 10 years, because I did not like this thing of being called a celebrity. I have always wanted to be close to the creatives, creating content and spreading my wings,” said Ferguson.
