Raphael Griffiths on 'popularity contests' in the industry

Raphael Griffiths has highlighted the importance of knowing your place as a young actor in the industry, saying genuine friendships don't come easy because everyone is in a popularity contest.

The actor, who recently bagged a role on e.tv's new drama Imbewu: The Seed, told TshisaLIVE it was every man for himself in the cut-throat industry.

"Yeah, in terms of young actors in the industry, there is no supporting each other here. Let's not lie to each other; it’s almost always a popularity contest.

"That is why I don't just chill with certain people just because we act together. I made a decision to stay away from that, if there's a friendship that develops it needs to be organic. It will never because we act together."

Raphael said he didn't entirely blame his peers as he also saw the behaviour from some veteran actors.

"I partly don't blame them, because the thing is we saw that from the actors we found in this space. The veteran actors are angry that there's this new crop of young actors coming in. Most of them are saying, 'these are Instagram models'  and painting all of us with the same brush."

The actor, who also happens to be a rapper and poet, said when he decided to improve his acting after backlash from fans for his Muvhango role, his other talents took a back seat. 

Raphael said he didn't want to fall into the trap of appearing to be good at everything meanwhile he's just average at a lot of things.

He said while most of his peers had their fingers in multiple pies, he was willing to wait it out.

"I didn't want to seem like a jack of all trades but master of none. One of the people that inspires me is Childish Gambino; because when he writes or acts you can't fault him. I want people to go 'wow' when they hear my music or when they see me perform. I don't want to do something just because I have access to it."