Jonasi Gomora might be the most hated man in South Africa at the moment, but S’dumo Mtshali, who plays the character in the series The Polygamist, is celebrating the show’s national obsession.
“Jonasi is trending more than I am; what a bastard,” he joked to the Sunday Times. “It’s so surreal; it’s affirming what I have worked for so much over the years, that people view and invest in my work.”
The 22-episode series, which is an adaptation of a novel by Sue Nyathi, has had viewers glued to their screens, dissecting how Gomora, a wealthy CEO, collapses his picture-perfect empire over his complex web of secret wives and mistresses.
The show has sparked heated debate on social media about toxic masculinity, greed, entitlement, controlling men and misogyny.
It’s currently Netflix’s most watched show in South Africa, and in the top 10 in 13 countries.
Stars who have spoken about the series include US media personality Sherrie Shepherd and actor Taraji P Henson. Shepherd posted a long video outlining the story, ending: “Crazy rich Africans are a whole ‘nother level! I can’t turn it off!”
Responding to the video, Henson posted: “Had me in a choke hold. Watched the entire 22 episodes on my one day off! The end is going to FUU! I will be back for your commentary.”
Mtshali said the global engagement was gratifying.
“I’m loving the impact, it’s opening conversations. “People should be talking about these issues. Everyone has a Jonasi in their life. It could be the husband, it could be the boyfriend or the father, and I understood the responsibility of that. This show was such a great eye-opener.
“Some guys are not offended, but they are curious. We argue this, trying to light-heart some of the serious conversations. They want to discuss these issues. They are really feeling the show, and they’re taking it very personally; they are triggered and they are moved.
“The book is way crazier. That story is universal... Jonasi in the book is 2.0 compared to what we brought up because we had to cut a lot of things ... we didn’t want to just shock people.
“This project had my parents praying when we were auditioning and while we were shooting because of how intense it was. I really needed some sort of grounding, and the only place I could get that was from God. I really needed him for this project.”
Mtshali said he had taken cues for his performance from the Sean Combs (aka Diddy, formerly Puff Daddy) trial that was under way in the US while they were shooting the series. The rapper was accused of multiple cases of sexual misconduct. Last year he was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution but not guilty on racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
Every day there’s a new TikTok post. I saw a tweet where someone said Jonasi is wild. But that’s so good, it’s opened a dialogue across the world
— Sue Nyathi, author
“When we were shooting this film, there was also the Puff Daddy/Diddy trial happening at the same time and I was drawing from that, the scandals. It was interesting for me, in terms of my character, to find similarities with what we were gathering from the trial.
“I felt like an observer as I was playing the character. It was a beautiful process, intimidating at times.
“The book has so much, but we had to cut so much of it. Because it’s not about the sex; it’s about the different relationships. But the sex scenes are part of it because he’s an addict, he’s a broken man. There were times that it felt so exhausting. That was a beautiful challenge.
“Every day there’s a new TikTok post. I saw a tweet where someone said Jonasi is wild. But that’s so good, it’s opened a dialogue across the world.”
But he admitted he had not been following much of the debate on social media.
“I’ve been living in two worlds since the premiere — home and on set. So I haven’t seen much reaction because I have just been grinding.
“Everyone lives on their phones and on their screens, so the traffic has been there, but I haven’t been too exposed to any crazy stunts — although it’s still early days.”
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