We've asked Montana actress Chantal Stanfield to write a special guest column for us about her experiences on the show. Chantal plays rich-witch Dalene Phillips, who uses her cash to promote her dubious, often sex-andalous agendas. Here's what she had to say ...
Chantal with Montana director Thabang Moleya
I have yet to meet anyone who thinks Dalene Phillips is a misguided, misunderstood, sad, distressed victim of her circumstances!
As the actor who plays her, I do have understanding and compassion for her. That might sound a bit crazy - feeling any kind of sympathy for someone who plots the downfall of her brother and his fiancé’s dream, sleeps around behind her husband’s back and talks down to her mother - but it’s the only way to make the character human. That’s why nobody I’ve met likes her!
It was so much fun creating Dalene. On the surface, she’s so hard and manipulative. What’s interesting as an actor is finding out what made her put up that front. There’s so much insight you can gain as a viewer if you just listen and watch closely. I won’t go into all the detail of ‘the craft of acting’ and ‘the method’, don’t worry. But trust me, there really was much work put into making Dalene ‘come alive’.
Here’s some scoop. Sorry to burst anyone’s bubble, but that hair ain’t mine! It’s a real human hair wig. I wasn’t prepared to cut my hair that short and, on top of that, go through all the schlep of hair treatments, salon visits and hours in the make-up chair getting it done everyday.
In the end, the wonderful hair and make-up department decided on the wig which made things easier for everyone. The funny thing though is the hair on the wig behaved like normal, moody hair would - we were shooting a scene outside Dalene’s house in the rain with umbrellas and, would you believe, the hair actually frizzed! Or rather, minced… we went through lots of hairspray!
Have you seen the heels Dalene wears?
They’re real killers. We called them ‘The Winstons’ because when I wore them I was almost as tall as Az Abrahams, who plays my husband Winston.
They’re gorgeous, pointy black stilettos that could pierce a soccerball. I bought myself a pair because they’re so sexy. As lovely as they are though and even after wearing them in for a few weeks before shooting started, there’s no way anyone could wear them all day.
Luckily, the wardrobe department and I came to very cosy arrangement. Every time our director called “Cut”, one of them would be there with flat pumps! Pretty soon, I wasn’t calling for the pumps, the crew was!
Last week’s episode saw Dalene meeting up with Charles Johnson and it looked all good, right? The Irish Coffee was very nice - I kept asking for more cream! But at one point, when Dalene takes a final seductive sip, I lost focus.
I forgot to close my mouth after sipping (don’t ask, I don’t know either) and quite un-seductively spilt coffee back into my mug with everyone watching! Gross and stupid-funny! I hope there’s not a gag-reel somewhere… I also almost fell off that chair; it was one of those nouveau-chic stools that you should never lean back in because there’s no back!
A few more behind-the-scenes titbits:
• The heel of my shoes ‘malfunctioned’ at some point and I couldn’t walk properly. We didn’t have back-ups and couldn’t get them fixed that day so wardrobe borrowed lots of black masking tape from the crew to make it better. Very DIY.
• The B-Boys did really good impersonations of Dalene. Her attitude, her walk, everything - very funny!
• We shot all the scenes in Dalene’s Salon at an actual salon called Eve & Steve in Westgate Mall, Mitchell’s Plain. They had sparkly tiaras on display - I simply loved them all and had to try them on between takes.
However, too much of a good thing can be bad for you - one slipped down, hit my nose hard and left a red mark for the rest of the day. It was pretty funny when it happened but the make-up department wasn’t happy. I kept my distance from the tiaras after that.
• We had many hot days as the shoot went into summer and the heat intensified when there were outdoor shots. I took to carrying my little Spanish fan around in Dalene’s handbag so each time we cut, out it came and I fanned myself to keep cool. Yes, very diva but it really was necessary, possums!
And so concludes the first column of these tales. Next time, I’ll tell you how we were literally attacked by irritating, little flies while shooting scenes at Victor’s warehouse; about the boisterous dogs at Richard’s house and why you should dish your dessert as soon as lunch is called on set.