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Lungile Duma plays Zithulele in Adulting.
Lungile Duma has risen to the spotlight on Adulting.
Playing Zithulele, Mpho’s (played by Thabiso Rammusi) good-natured yet possibly naïve wife, has catapulted Lungile to the spotlight and she’s only just getting started.
The 28-year-old model and actress has previously had cameo and minor roles in the telenovelas Durban Gen and The River respectively, with much of her catalogue consisting of modeling for Boss Models.
She now gets her chance to shine and show Mzansi what she’s made of as Zithulele – often referred to as Zithu – on the Showmax series.
Catching up with TRUELOVE, Lungile explains the audition process and how she got the role of Zithu.
“We had open auditions … they did put out a post saying they’re looking for new faces – young, fresh, good-looking, you know. So, I sent my self-tape there and then I think after a week I got a call back.
“But it was so difficult because we had like four callbacks. We actually had auditions for like a whole month and it was so difficult because you knew who you were up against.”
While Lungile relates to Zithu’s sweet nature, she had to draw insight and inspiration from the women around her as she has yet to experience marriage and motherhood.
She explains, “I think uZithulele is a very calm woman. Not rude, not mean – it’s all about izingane zakhe (her children) and the husband, and she’s not the type of woman who would like to swear or fight. You know she’s very calm, very grounded – she’s a lady.
“Having to play a wife and a mother I had to draw from my mothers. I had to take a lot from them: how they are, how they behave and how they are with their husbands – and my sisters as well. So, I had to draw from a lot of people around me just to bring uZithulele in. But also, uZithulele is a very sweet person, I think that is just me, I didn’t really have to put much into it. Yeah, but I had to draw from a lot of abantu besifazane abaseduze nami (women who are close to me).”
Thabiso Rammusi as Mpho and Lungile Duma as Zithulele in Adulting.
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Throughout the season, Zithu is portrayed as the homemaker, a loving mother and wife while her husband Mpho spends weekend trips away with the boys, not afraid to dabble in infidelity with different women.
Speaking on how the show tackles the story of a cheating husband, Lungile emphasises that while it may have been a difficult story to portray, it’s important to see that the effects of infidelity are quite damaging.
“First thing, it was so difficult for me to get into the character because I have no experience of kids, marriage, so it took a lot from me. And then, also now you get into that character and the husband is cheating like crazy. But if you recall uZithulele ubengaboni (she didn’t notice) for some time – I don’t think it’s right for me to say abengaboni, I think she could see but then she didn’t really pay attention to it.
“And then it got to a point where she couldn’t take it anymore and like everything just broke and it took out the bitter Zithulele, the angry Zithulele, the cheating Zithulele. So, I think also this whole cheating thing emshadweni it changes people, especially abantu besifazane. You come into your marriage, you’re pure, you’re innocent, you just want this and then your husband suddenly changes out of the blue and it just changes you as a woman and how you view things and how you do things.”
As the season has drawn to a close, Lungile reflects on the kind of messaging Adulting puts forward and how the show depicts the lived experiences of many young South Africans.
“I think Adulting is just portraying real life things. Especially young couples, it’s a real-life thing and people always want to filter it and make it look pretty and Adulting just took it out as is and a lot of people are able to relate.”
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Going into how the reception from the viewers has been, Lungile notes that not everyone will react the same way when faced with the devastation of infidelity.
“I don’t want to lie to you, it’s been good even though some feel like uZithulele is not being angry enough and – because angithi we’re used to these women [and] what they’d do when the husband is cheating and you’d go crazy and uZithulele is not that kind … People are like ‘ah no, she’s not angry enough, she’s still nice’ and stuff,
Source: Snl24.com | Read More
