New Top Actor Africa winner would love comedy and action roles
|||Munya Vomo
After several weeks of tough competition, 23-year-old up-and-coming actor, Jesse Suntele, emerged as the winner of the second season of BET’s Top Actor. Named Top Actor Africa, this season looked for talented, but not established, actors from all over the continent.
“I am feeling really tired because it has been a very taxing period, but I am so glad I won. I did not think that I would. In fact, I think for most of us the strategy was just to go from one stage to the next. At least, that was my philosophy. I just had to strive to be good enough to survive each week. When I got to the end, even that was enough for me. The win was a surprise, a bonus, and a good one,” said an excited Suntele.
Trying not to be sidetracked by his victory, Suntele plans to strike while the iron is hot.
“The plan now is to try and get into the industry as fast as possible. I have done a few jobs, but not enough to gain me a name. I have been on Ashes to Ashes and Generations, but they were both small parts. Now that this win has come my way I am hoping to take this achievement and make some progress in the arts industry.”
While the actor managed to stay in the competition until the very end, it was the last two remaining contestants, Shamilla Miller (South Africa) and Alex Khayo (Kenya), in the final episode of the series who gave him a run for his money.
“I have no idea what set me apart from the rest because, honestly, I do not know whom I would have picked as the winner if it were up to me. All of the people who were on the show showed promise and I feel very lucky to be the one person who took it all. I might have watched the show before, but that was only the South African version. When it returned, though, it was bigger because it was not only about South African contestants, the second season had other African nationals involved so that was really tough,” he confessed.
The win came with a cool $100 000 (about R1.6 million) and opportunities to work locally and abroad.
“Part of the prize is representation in the US and that is really good for me. It is a big thing for an up-and-coming actor to have that access to Hollywood, an arena that is not easy to crack. I am so humbled that I am now part of this lucky group of a few people,” he said.
What does the future hold for the actor?
“I want to go into something between comedy and action because I excelled in those themes on Top Actor and I think I might just be good at them,” he said.