'eHostela' star Thobani Nzuza recalls funny fan moment that caused traffic on the highway

Even though he doesn't consider himself a 'celebrity', actor Thobani Nzuza has had to deal with more than a few hilarious fan moments.  

Once people started recognising him even with a mask on, the eHostela actor knew his work really meant a lot to his growing fan base.

In a recent interview with TshisaLIVE, Thobani laughed as he told the story of one bizarre incident that made him realise he was indeed a celebrated artist. Thobani recalled how a woman behind the till at the toll gate got star-struck and caused massive traffic behind him when she realised she was serving “Mndeni”.

“When people like or love you for your work, they can even see you behind a mask!” Thobani said.

“Recently, I was coming from KZN going through the toll gate, paying there ... So I took out my card to pay at the window and the lady just froze and looked at me, she didn't do anything for a moment and then stormed out the door! Then this gentleman came in and [said}: 'Sorry man, the lady couldn't handle the pressure, let me help you.'

“I didn't know what to do, like do I park, get out and go to her but also I was in a rush going to Joburg and we were on the freeway ... Yeah but the kind of reactions I meet from people are amazing and it's inspiring. It makes me think that maybe I really to affect people with what I do,” he said.

Thobani added that his grandmother also uses his role as a Ben10 in Uzalo to get more grandchildren out of him.

“In December 2018, we were all chilling at home, there's a lot of us with my brothers and siblings, we were having a nice time when I had to leave. Then my grandmother called me, she had been examining me the whole time and when I got to her she said, 'Yah Thobani ... So you don't have a child because you busy sleeping with old women neh?' because of the role I played on Uzalo, I was a Ben 10 there,” he explained.

While gogo was willing to make fun of Thobani and his on-screen sugar mamas, Thobani said she couldn't handle seeing him as Mndeni and quit watching the show after the very first episode of the drama series.

“My grandmother doesn't watch eHostela. She saw the first episode from season one where Jama was shooting people at the garage, then she completely stopped watching it saying she can't watch me killing people. However, she watches Days of Our Lives and The Bold (and Beautiful) and all those with no problem,” Thobani said as he laughed.

While his eHostela role has become one of the most loved characters on TV, Thobani recently revealed that he never thought he would end up acting on TV.

Thobani had actually been in the industry for more than a decade before he made it to the small screen. The actor recently told TshisaLIVE that after bagging his acting diploma, theatre stole his heart and he never planned to end up on TV.

“I won't lie, when you are into theatre ... first, people like to assume that a professional actor is only the one that's on TV, but that's a lie, because there are professional actors making a living in theatre. For me, personally, when I graduated with my diploma, I didn't want to do TV (jobs).”

Thobani admitted that he also held the view that TV actors lacked passion and were often just there to be “cute” and “sell their muscular bodies” for ratings, fame and a payday. Playing Mndeni helped change that view for Thobani.