Kedibone’s keeper: Khutjo Green as Kedibone on e.tv’s daily soapie Scandal. Photo: Supplied
Like sand through an hourglass, soap operas were once an essential flow in our daily routines.
However, in recent years, this daily ritual has slowly faded as viewers’ tastes and the television landscape have evolved. Even some of South Africa’s most iconic soapies have not been spared — 7de Laan, Isidingo, Isibaya and Muvhango have all met similar fates.
The latest to join this list is e.tv’s much-loved daily soapie Scandal!, with its final episode expected to air in June.
Earlier this year, Scandal! introduced a revamped cast. Among the new faces was Kedibone, portrayed by stage and screen actress Khutjo Green. Like many loyal local viewers, Green was saddened to learn that the beloved drama was coming to an end.
“I am heartbroken. I have really enjoyed working there. It is the most incredible and collaborative space to work in because everybody is concerned with making the picture look great and authentic,” Green says.
I caught up with her on a Friday evening, after a hectic week of rehearsals for a theatre play.
During our virtual interview, Green shared how the news had dashed her hopes of continuing to work with Scandal! as a cast member and in the production team.
Over the years, Green has had a longstanding relationship with the soapie as an acting coach. It was this relationship that eventually made the auditioning process seamless.
“I’ve auditioned for other roles on the show, but then creative writer and story liner, Mam Grace Mahlaba, was just like, ‘No, we haven’t found the role for you and you better be ready when it comes.’
“Then one day I get a call from my agent saying I’ve got the role of Kedibone. I won’t lie, that was a role and a space I had been praying for. So, those prayers were answered,” says the Polokwane-born actress.
An award-winning theatre practitioner, lecturer, director and writer, Green’s love for TV acting has grown over the years. Having previously appeared in supporting roles on Generations — The Legacy, The River House of Zwide, and played Detective Ledwaba on Skeem Saam, Green considers her role as Kedibone one of her biggest in a daily soap drama.
She says Kedibone’s character has been her most challenging, in some ways, and most long-standing role.
“In all the other roles that I’ve played on TV I’ve always been a call actor. This is my first global call with a contract,” she says, beaming.
She adds that when there is no long-term contract for a role, she misses the chance to develop and evolve with the character.
Thus, this character works well for Green’s ambitions, as she will be in the storyline until next year when the soapie ends.
“Viewers sometimes get frustrated with certain story lines and characters that are not growing.
“Then it becomes a conversation that you must have with your directors and writers to say, ‘Guys, I feel like she’s staying on the same plane emotionally; let’s take her somewhere else.’ So, to be afforded the opportunity to play and grow with a character in the ways that I have been given with Kedibone, I am really over the moon,” says the Wits University graduate.
Although shrewd and struggling with gambling addictions, Kedibone’s character is relatable as someone we have encountered in our families and communities.
Green’s stunning command of Sepedi adds to this relatability.
“When I got the script, I was able to access the knowledge from what I saw in my community. She’s very hard. One of those petty women that doesn’t take nonsense.”
In the soapie characters she portrays, Green emphasises the importance of authentic language. She believes accurate linguistic representation serves as a teaching tool for audiences and enriches cultural representation in popular media.
As I pose the question, Green gets up to pick up a book she got from her mother who was a teacher. The book, Green tells me, contains Sepedi proverbs and idioms she sometimes inserts in the script, which the director loves.
“It was important for the character to speak my mother tongue because it became a teaching vehicle. Some viewers might not hear and understand the language but they can appreciate its musicality, colours, depth and lightness.
“I relish the moment I get my scripts — then to get onto set and say something in Sepedi.
“Then the director can be, like, ‘What did you say there? That sounded great and so musical.’”
It is this passion for language and heritage in her stage and screen work that makes Green see acting as a calling deeply rooted in empathy and spirituality.
She says her passion for storytelling stems from her grandmother, who was a remarkable orator.
Green argues that storytelling is inherent in all individuals and that acting chose her, taking her away from initial aspirations to be a pilot.
She believes that storytelling is a spiritual process that encourages self-confrontation and healing, emphasising that stories can open up vital conversations both internally and interpersonally.
“The stories that I gravitate towards are very much about how we confront ourselves before we can even think about healing ourselves.
“So, I think we need to be honest with our personhood and our behaviour. Once that is done, then it can open up conversations, firstly, with self and then with those around you. So, this work is very spiritual for me.”
Alluding to her Balobedu heritage, a tribe centred around the powerful Queen Madjadji, Green is both conscious and cautious.
She says that, through storytelling, there are moments when cultural rituals and practices — whether for stage or screen — must be kept sacred until the time is right.
“Whilst I want people to know about these things, there’s also something about the sacredness of a certain narrative,” she says.
“I don’t think that all of us are meant to know everything at one go. You get revealed to you what you need to know at a particular time because it matters where you are in your journey.
“So yeah, it becomes very spiritual. It didn’t start out that way, but it certainly then cemented itself because I do see myself both as a healer and a mirror.”
Because artists are vehicles to open portals, I ask Green how she navigates channelling character energies both on stage and screen, particularly real-life figures.
She tells me at times it’s dangerous for artists to recklessly channel spiritual energies when portraying characters without respecting protocols.
“I’ll be very honest with you. I think that’s very dangerous. Some artists are irresponsible in the ways they approach their roles because I think somewhere in their heads they think that it’s going to gain them accolades for invoking energies and entities.
“Especially if things are so spiritual, why would you play with such fire?” she says, pointedly.
In her process, Green, instead, prefers to walk with her characters, allowing them to guide her, while remaining aware of her own boundaries.
“It does happen that there is an immersive kind of spiritual experience with my characters, especially when I do verbatim theatre.
“But oftentimes I am walking with the character close to me. So that I can see them and let them guide me.
“While I am walking alongside they will take over, right? Then I am, like, ‘Okay, I am going wherever you want to go. Let’s go,’” she says, smiling.
Green does admit that the calling to be an artist wasn’t something she initially responded to.
After realising she wasn’t cut out for office routine, Green explored interior and fashion design, due to her talent for drawing.
However, her mother encouraged her to pursue acting, suggesting that design could be pursued later in life, leading Green to enrol at Wits.
While at the university, she initially felt out of place, questioning her choice to study drama over aviation.
She majored in psychology and sociology, a subject she says all artists should study because they work with the mind and emotions.
During her studies, Green also fell in love with other sections of drama and the performing arts. For instance, she discovered her knack for directing, which she describes as assembling puzzle pieces to create a cohesive story.
This creative evolution and flexibility also led to Green’s lecturing period from 2014 to 2020 at various institutions including Afda Johannesburg.
She has appeared in numerous plays, including Fences, Tartuffe, and Animal Farm, and a lead role in The Line, which earned her the Naledi Award for Best Actress
A seasoned actress, with two decades of experience on both stage and screen, Green has been able to find balance with her creative abilities.
She is able to engage in various mediums, including acting, directing and writing for theatre, television and film.
Her sharp eye for process and care in her work continues to shape her belief that creatives need to always keep learning and interrogating more deeply.
“Continue to unpack because I don’t believe that we ever arrive. It is important in the process to keep asking why.
“Even in our own lives, I don’t think that we ever arrive at a final statement or an answer about something because something else can always come in and completely disrupt that and encourage us to take the work to the next level.”