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- Nasty C and Thabang Molaba talk about Blood & Water's powerful message of self-acceptance.
- Thabang says: "It depicts what happens in real life and issues that we face as people and youngsters. The show shows that it's okay."
- Nasty C admits that as a teenager he didn't express his emotions but hopes Blood & Water will show teenagers that they are not alone.
We spoke to Blood & Water's Nasty C and Thabang Molaba about the series' positive message of self-acceptance and perspective on family dynamics.
In the series, Thabang portrays the role of popular kid KB who is part of the high school "it-crew", and Nasty C plays Zero, a music producer.
About making his acting debut, Nasty C says: "I found out that I would be working on the soundtrack before I got the acting role."
He adds that the lyrics to the song I Need You came easy, as the emotions he was trying to convey through music, was similar to something that he experienced in real life.
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"The breakdown that I was given for the song, I Need You, was about Puleng on this endless search for her sister she was separated from birth. And that's very similar to something that happened to me in real life," he explains.
"When I was 11 months old, my mother passed away and the two sides of the family kind of split. I grew up on my father's side, and my mother's side of the family was in Cape Town. I only found out about them when I was 10, and then only got to meet them when I was around 13," he says.
"I was already connected to what was going on in the series, and to play a role in the series was a no brainer for me," he says when asked about making his acting debut.
He admits that playing a character so similar to his real-life persona made it "a whole lot easier."
Thabang, who is also an artist in real life, says it was both an exciting and challenging experience combining his love of music and acting into one project.
"Those lyrics were written by Nasty, and it comes from his heart, so it's challenging to make it our own," he explains.
When asked about what type of student he was in high school, he agrees that he was much like KB - popular, a jock, and he didn't have a problem with the ladies. But he quickly adds: "Not right now!"
Blood & Water does not only focus on Puleng's investigation into her sister's disappearance, but the show also looks at exploring sexuality, dealing with trauma and complicated family dynamics.
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Both agree that if the audience takes away one thing, it is that: "What you are going through right now is not the end of the world, and it's okay to make mistakes."
Thabang says: "It depicts what happens in real life and issues that we face as people and youngsters. The series shows that it's okay."
Nasty C says that when he was younger, he wasn't very vocal about his feelings but hopes that Blood & Water will show teenagers, especially that they are not alone. "Nobody is perfect, and it's okay to have trials here and there, as long as you work on yourself," he says.
