It's been a breakout week for Greed & Desire's Princess Oarabile.
She's caught up in her wedding to Maru, she has to contend with "the other woman" Tselane and she's been reunited with her jail bird lover Xolani, played by the infamous
Gxabhashe! aka Mpumelelo Bhulose.
All this makes it the perfect time to zoom in on the actress who plays her, Keaby (Keabetswe) Mashugane.
It's the breakout week of her breakout role so I caught up with her to get to know her. Here's what I discovered...
Tashi: Can you tell us your story? We know you were on The Road - what did you do before?
Keaby: I was born in Johannesburg, bred in Mafikeng and buttered back in Johannesburg. Most of my schooling was in Mafikeng. I moved to Johannesburg with my family in 1998 and I've been in Johannesburg since then.
I finished off my schooling this side, went to 'varsity - I studied at the University of Johannesburg. I studied Business Management and Administration.
Tashi: That's a far cry from acting!
Keaby: I know, I know, it's a far, far, far cry. I was employed by the institution as well. In my employment I worked in marketing and events which was a far cry from what I studied as well. When The Road happened, I'd actually quit my job so it happened much later - I just wasn't happy, I wasn't feeling fulfilled.
I'd been exposed to the industry for so many years, since I was a little girl because my mother's a make-up artist (Esmé
Mashugane) and she was a model way back when so I was always exposed to the industry, going to work with her, spending time with her and being exposed to actors and actresses.
I've literally grown up in the industry so I quit my job, was looking for new employment, went to a couple of interviews and things weren't panning out.
You know when you go to an interview and you feel like, "Ag, that's not where I want to be," - I did all of that and then The Road happened. I heard about auditions, I went and that's how I got the character of Grace on The Road and I haven't looked back since.
Tashi: What made you study business? Did you just think it was a good way of ensuring you make cash?
Keaby: Not even. Funny enough, my mother's very artistic and she gets that from my grandfather who's also very artistic. My grandfather did fine arts - he was a lecturer at Wits - so we do have artists in the family but me deciding what to go and study was really looking at my eldest brother because I look up to him because he's an academic so it was that - he was like, go to school, get a job, make money.
Because I looked to him he was my role model as well so I thought let me do something along those lines because he's an investment banker as well.
Tashi: Is he your only sibling?
Keaby: I have four older brothers - I'm the youngest and I'm the only girl.
Tashi: So no-one can mess with you!
Keaby: I know, right?
Tashi: How old is your oldest brother?
Keaby: He's 41.
Tashi: And you?
Keaby: I'm 27, so it's quite a gap.
Tashi: Is your family all together? Mom, dad etc?
Keaby: No, my dad passed - I'm actually the only child between my mom and dad. My brothers are all half siblings.
Tashi: Do you and your mom live together?
Keaby: We live together, yes. I always say, "I'm living with my mother until a certain point where - the only thing that's going to make me move out is when I get married."
Tashi: So what's the best way of getting rid of "the other woman" when she comes between you and your man? If you were in a Greed & Desire situation, what would you do?
Keaby: Nowadays the other women are so hell bent on being No 1. It's such a crazy thing so that if you try to shame them and put them on the spot, that's where they want to be. They want to be on the spot because they want to be known. You can't even name and shame anymore because that's exactly what they want.
Tashi: What do you do?
Keaby: I really think, as a woman, whether you're the existing girlfriend or wife, you kill her off.
Tashi: Ha!
Keaby: Not literally - you kill her off in your mind. You release the hatred and the jealousy and then you understand that she's also a human being and that she's a woman at the end of the day and she has her flaws and fears as well.
You know the saying, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?" You befriend her. I know it sounds odd. You keep her close because the minute you keep her close it puts him in a bit of a fix because he can't say he's getting joy out of cheating because you have something on him as well. He must then decide where his bread is buttered.
That's exactly what I would do. Some women get a kick out of cheating with someone's man because she doesn't know. They a get a kick because they feel as if they're getting something that she has and she doesn't know it so the minute you, as a woman, then say, "I know who you are, I know what you're about," - some of them back off because they're like, "Now this is no longer fun."
This is exactly what Princess is doing because she's riding on that philosophy, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." It makes her look like the bigger person and gives her the upper hand. I asbolutely love that about her.