Uzalo's Baby Cele: There's a bit of Gabi in all of us

When celebrated actress Baby Cele read the character bio for her Uzalo role, she could immediately relate. A fierce, aggressive and outspoken auntie who knows everyone's business.

Baby, who recently won a Best Actress award at the Simon Sabela Film and Television Awards for her role as Gabisile Zikhal, told TshisaLIVE that she is loving her character on the popular soapie.

"I think there's a bit of Gabi in all of us. Someone inquisitive. Someone who is stubborn, who doesn't listen to other people but likes to know about everyone's business. She is crazy. I am a straight talker but she shoots straight. Everyone knows a Gabi in the community. They are the ones who have an opinion about everything."

Baby said that her character has put her "in trouble" as an actress because it demands that she's in nearly every scene.

"She takes her big mouth everywhere. She's at the salon. What is she doing there? There are only kids there but she wants to manage them. She is a businesswoman. She wants to take over the church. She is crazy, but I love her."

While Baby is taking in every moment, she also has her eye on the next step in her career, working behind the scenes on productions and scriptwriting.

"I have been in this industry so long, now it is time to make opportunities of our own. Why can't we call the shots?"

She said that she is working on several productions, including short films, but wouldn't spill the tea on the productions. But Baby did say she wanted to tell a story about the family feuds over inheritance and land.

"People fight so much, even siblings. They fight so much over houses. They kill each other. They bewitch each other. For me, that's a story that needs to be told. I know that parents don't know much about saving and investing. Even wills, that is why there is so much fighting and hate."