Between the Rock and role

It took her a while but when Jennifer Aniston eventually took stock of her career she realised she didn't want to be reduced to being "just a rom-com person".

The epiphany led the 45-year-old actress to take a risky role in Daniel Barnz's indie drama film, Cake, which earned her nominations for a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors' Guild award.

It appears that Terry Pheto, who broke out just over a decade ago as Miriam in the 2005 Oscar-winning feature film Tsotsi, must subject herself to some soul-searching, once the current third season of the popular weekly Mzansi Magic drama series Rockville ends in two weeks.

Pheto replaced Bonnie Mbuli as Dudu Bogatsu this season and inevitably comparisons between the two women were made.

There were moments in the first two season when Mbuli would say: "Wa itse ke tlo go klapa (You know what, I'm going to slap you)," and her victim would stay "Slapped!".

The range of emotions Dudu has gone through fits Mbuli like a glove, but Pheto seems to struggle.

At least viewers think so. On Twitter, it's not uncommon to find comments such as "I want Bonnie Mbuli-Henna back on Rockville #RockvilleS3" and "I preferred Bonnie as Dudu #RockVilleS3" or "But Bonnie was killing this role".

Pheto told The Times yesterday: "I'm quite aware that if you take a role previously played by someone else it's a huge risk. I understand. It's not something that I wasn't aware of. People are used to what they're used to."

She said that after taking on the role she was under self-imposed pressure "to deliver what I thought was the best and not to copy what Bonnie was doing".

She admitted that taking over the role forced her "to grow up and trust the person I am".

"I've never played a character like this before - it was a personal challenge to play outside my comfort zone, to challenge myself and be in someone else's shoes, and be completely different to who I really am."