'Skeem Saam' actress Innocent Sadiki excited for first Netflix gig

No amount of no's could stop Innocent Sadiki from believing she was born for this as the actress celebrates her debut on Netflix film The Throne.

She shared with TshisaLIVE that she played Mahlatse from a royal Sepedi family, a role she said was an affirmation that she's in the right place.

“I feel so overwhelmed and I guess very hopeful about a lot of the things that I continue to dream about and aspire to do. I'm feeling very optimistic in terms of things being possible. So at this point I feel like nothing is out of reach. I can do anything that I put my mind to.

“It's purely a South African story that was authentically told with the language and the representation of the culture of Bapedi and how it works in terms of when you come from a royal family and how things are run. So, for me I had to learn the ins and out of being in a royal family, how you carry yourself as a wife, to someone who's possibly going to be on the throne. It took a lot to build that character and I think it was very easy because I worked with a director that I've worked with before on Skeem Saam. So that made it easier.”

The Skeem Saam actress said she has always had aspirations of going international. That's why she is expanding her education with her sights on getting a Phd.

“My aspirations are so big, not with just acting but with producing, directing and creating shows and content as well as opportunities for graduates within the industry. I'm working towards that one step at a time, one production at a time, one film at a time. But ultimately I know what my goal is. I want to be able to be producing my own one day, but at the moment I'm learning as much as I can. I'm literally putting myself out there to experience different phases and what they can offer me and to also grow, because how do you teach people if you don't have any experience? I believe the biggest lesson in life is experience and that's what I'm trying to gain.”

The flick was shot in Hammanskraal in 2018 and keeping it hush was part of the producers plans. 

“We shoot so many things that don't go out, so I knew that the producers were very intentional about the film going to go global. At first they would enter international film awards. They were very intentional about it getting the recognition it deserved. I think it was not a matter of time, it was a matter of being on the right platform. They did get a lot of offers from different channels, but they knew what they wanted and where they wanted the film to be. So I'm grateful that they had the patience and were not desperate and finally after years of fighting the battle and after a year of getting the right credentials, and the right recognition and the awards, they managed to get into Netflix.”

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