She kept Skeem Saam viewers captivated as Lelo Mthiyane and recently starred in the Netflix movie Little Big Mouth, and now Amanda Du-Pont introduces a new character to her impressive CV: Blessing in The Domestic.
The horror film is new territory for Amanda, who told TshisaLIVE it was a pleasure to dive into the genre and fully immerse herself in the character.
The film written and directed by Brad Katzen is about a wealthy couple who, after their housekeeper dies, takes in her daughter as their new house help.
Tumisho Masha plays the character of Tumi and Thuli Thabethe plays his wife Kat
"Blessing begins working as the couple's helper when in fact she is an imposter and serial killer. Although gifted by the ancestors with a spiritual gift, she uses hers for evil. Somehow in her twisted psyche she believes she is helping Kat realise and take heed of her calling from the ancestors. Blessing arrives and turns everyone’s world upside down. There’s no denying her super powers."
Horror movies can get quite scary for the viewer, but fans seldom imagine how the actors feel.
The 33-year-old said shooting the scenes sometimes got "too real".
"Playing Blessing was a thrilling experience. However, there were some really scary moments on set for all of us. Although this was the world of make believe there were moments where the weather would change dramatically during rituals in scenes. I would think is that really the weather or did it awaken something?"
Amanda said for someone who is spiritually in tune, playing a character who used the purity of healing and turned it bad was challenging.
"There were definitely challenges as it was important for the viewer to feel somewhat off about the way in which she did things. I am relatively in tune with my spirituality. In that sense I could draw easily for mannerisms of a spiritual healer.
"The challenge, however, was to make these mannerisms seem a bit off to how it’s supposed to be done. Showing clearly she didn’t represent attributes of pure hearted healer. She was concerned with her own agenda, which she believed was to the benefit of Kat."
She counts her lucky stars that this character pushed her, and having a director that afforded her creative expression is what she is grateful for.
"Blessing has definitely pushed my range. I’m extremely fortunate to have had a script that could do that and a director who allowed me to play and breathe life into her character.
"Mel in Little Big Mouth was also a push because the film was comedy, however she represented a more serious character compared to everyone else. So the challenge of letting others land their comedic moments was a constant push beyond my creativity, as I’m naturally funny."
The Domestic is streaming on Amazon Prime Video and was shot in three weeks, a short time that involved long days for the actress.
"By the time the film wrapped I was was physically, spiritually and mentally drained. Also not having enough time means you don’t have that many chances to get things right.
"Many scenes would end up in one or two chances to shoot your close up. This is immense pressure to get it right and little time to play with different executions of each scene. Challenges usually force you to level up and that’s what I did. Just gave every scene the best I could."
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