Durban actress a new face on Netflix hit series 'Blood & Water'

There will be a new face on screen when the Netflix hit series Blood & Water's second season premieres on September 24.

Katishcka Kiara, a 23-year-old actress from Durban, plays Pauline, who forms an unlikely friendship and business partnership with season 1 character Reece.

“Their escapades intertwine with the rest of the story and with the other characters, causing even more drama to unfold!” Kiara told TimesLIVE. 

“Pauline is very academic and she’s an overachiever ... so actually very similar to who I was in high school — but she also has an added edge, which makes her a very layered and interesting character to play.”

The show follows the journey of a teenager, Puleng Khumalo, who engineers her transfer to Parkhurst College in season 1 to investigate the 17-year-old cold case of her sister who was abducted at birth. 

Kiara auditioned for the role last September, in the same month she signed with her Cape Town-based agent.

“I was in Durban and they informed me about the audition, which was to be in Cape Town the very next day. There were no flights available at such short notice but against all odds, I managed to find one for that same day that I found about the audition. I packed a bag and got on a flight to Cape Town. I arrived in Cape Town at 10pm that night and the audition was the next morning.

“It was a very exciting audition process where I worked with the director, Nosipho Dumisa, on the scene I had prepared. Much of the process focused on who I was as a person and what of myself I could bring to the character.

“After the audition I returned to Durban and, after a week of waiting, my agent finally called me to say that I got the job.”

Kiara never pictured herself doing anything else but acting.

“After high school, I was hesitant to pursue acting as a full-time career because many people considered it a risky path to take and always talked about rather studying something else to fall back on just in case the acting didn't work out,” she said.

“However, I had a very real passion for acting and realised that if I truly wanted to be an actor, I had to go all in and dedicate all my time and energy to it. I decided to take the risk and my acting journey began when I started studying a BA in Live Performance at Afda Durban, a film and acting school — and I haven't looked back since.”

Her first acting role was of a teenager named Gina in a short film called Slumber Party, which aired on SABC3 in October 2019.

Kiara added that fans of Blood & Water could look forward to new faces, more questions and “many revelations”.  

Season 2 returns with a rocky start between Puleng and Fikile after the revelation of the DNA results, and drama guaranteed to test old alliances and forge new unlikely friendships. 

“The show represents the diversity and culture of SA while still appealing to global audiences through the universal topics that it covers,” said Kiara.

“Blood & Water has played a vital role in furthering the representation of people of colour on global platforms. It is also an incredible opportunity for me as an Indian actor to join the cast of the show and play a part in contributing to the representation of SA Indian people on local and global platforms — to have the true diversity of SA represented and allow all our people to feel seen.”