The Queen actress told our source having her Twitter and Instagram followers instead of her talent “speak for her” at auditions was a disturbing concept to understand.
In a country where acting jobs are becoming harder and harder to come by, losing a job to someone else because of lack of social media followers is a hard knock. And something Khayakazi Kula can relate to.
“It was the most mind boggling thing for me. I had to fill in how many followers I had on the audition form. They wanted to know how many Instagram followers I had and at that time I didn’t even have Instagram. Why did that matter? I had done a great job on my other gigs. My talent and skill could speak way better for me.”
Khayakazi began her acting career in 2011 on SABC1 drama series Intsika and has made it her mission to impress in all the other her other roles.
She said although she knew she was in a dynamic industry, she couldn’t understand how followers could be prioritised over real talent.
The “evolution” of the acting industry has seen the number of followers you have on social media become a vital part of an artist’s CV, something that some say is a challenge because they aren’t “social media famous.”
“Jobs are hard to come by in this industry as it is. I was so frustrated because you’d be watching TV and see all these new faces – most of them not even talented – and you’re like; ‘but I’ve going to auditions. What is going on?’ I even stopped TV. I wasn’t bitter, but I was like ‘why must yellow bones with a lot of followers take our jobs?'”
The actress now plays Martha on the popular Mzansi Magic telenovela The Queen, a role she’s proud to have acquired based on her past performances.
The mother to a four-year-old daughter said she’s managed to increase her social media presence, but insists it should never be used to “gauge” her talent and skill.
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