Actors Shona and Connie Ferguson are in the news once again – they are launching their first drama, Rockville, under their production house, Ferguson Films. Debashine Thangevelo had a tête-à-tête with South Africa’s darling celebrity couple to find out more about their much-anticipated offering and the stellar cast they have lined up as well as giving the new “IT girl”, Boity Thulo, her first acting role…
SHONA and Connie Ferguson are one of those couples you can’t help but admire. And I’m not just talking about her praiseworthy sense of style and poise, or his beefcake appeal, especially with those bad-boy tattoos.
When it comes to acting, both are legends in their own right. Shona has earned his reputation with SABC2’s Muvhango (Dr Leabua), e.tv’s Scandal (Alex) and M-Net's The Wild (Itumeleng Tladi) and Connie made waves as Karabo Moroka in SABC1’s Generations before bowing out gracefully 16 years later to join The Wild as Marang Lebone. And she is also synonymous with the long-running TV series, Soul City.
Shona says they started Ferguson Films in 2010.
Stealing him away from his workout session – well, I did give him time to finish – I asked him what prompted the move into production.
He explains: “We made the decision earlier on, Connie and I, to focus on that. And we still have stacks and stacks of concepts and scripts lined-up for development.
“She had left Generations, I left Scandal and we wanted to get into that. But we got a wonderful opportunity to get into The Wild. And we learnt a lot about the high- quality production. What it takes to make something outstanding. Yes, it was short-lived, but it was a wonderful experience.”
When M-Net pulled the plug on the award-winning soap, the couple returned to their original plans.
“We decided to go back to the drawing board. We wanted to make every single production of as high a quality as possible.
“The premise of Rockville was always at the back of my mind. But we took it further in August last year – that’s when we decided to break it down and develop the series,” Shona explains.
“We (Connie and him) wrote the outline and story arc and then phoned (scriptwriter) Phathu Makwarela. I called and said: ‘There is something Connie and I are working on. Do you mind seeing us and talking about it?’ He has such a brilliant and genius mind. He understood what we wanted.
“Then we got on board with Gwydion Beynon, he is the senior writer on the series. We four developed the story and characters and got more experienced writers to breakdown the treatment.”
Old hands in the industry, Shona and Connie were sticklers for perfection on every element of the series; including getting Bobby Heaney on board as series producer.
“We worked with Bobby on The Wild. Connie worked with him years ago on Soul City, too. I have always respected and loved him. You know, when he came on board on The Wild, he took it to another level. He was sort of my unofficial mentor in terms of production. I fell in love with the kind of producer he is. So it was very easy to go with him. And he immediately joined the day I approached him. He took us under his wing and in that short time, I have learnt more than I would have in five years.”
On casting Minnie Dlamini and Boitumelo “Boity” Thuso as twins, Shona explains: “In terms of Minnie, she is such a joy to work with. I have to be honest, the writers, at first, went: ‘Hmm, why twins?’ It has never been done. I said I want to do it and I think Minnie has amazing potential. It was a natural thing to have her on board.
“With Boity, we wanted someone who is not necessarily an actress. And she blew us away in that first audition.”
As far as scandals go, Shona says he doesn’t concern himself much with reading about such things.
“Excuse my ignorance. I heard there was some publicity, but I don’t follow tabloids. The first time I heard anything was when we were brainstorming the storyline.”
But it hasn’t deterred him in anyway – he believes the two are the perfect fit to play the twins.
He continues: “For one, they are believable as twins. They have such opposite energy. They did a stellar job and worked well together.”
By the way, he plays their father, JB Bogatsu, in the series, which explores life in modern South Africa by peeling away the different social strata.
Shedding light on the plot, he says: “It’s about two families: the Bogatsus and the Mabasos. We didn’t follow the good guy and bad guy route.”
In looking at people’s different moral compasses, there are many grey areas that crop up.
Shona says: “JB is doing the best he can to take care of his family. But the choices he makes ultimately get him into trouble, even though they are done with the best of intentions. Fresh out of prison for a blue-collar crime, the story picks up with him running this high-end bar, buying a new house. But there is more to his story – especially with society rejecting him. So his dark traits are born out of circumstance.”
Interestingly, Connie’s role is poles apart from anything she has played before.
Taking a breather from her taebo session, she says: “When we started writing the series, I was quick to pick Mavis. With Marang, I tried to play her differently to Karabo. But they are quite similar in terms of social standing, so it wasn’t easy.
“But Mavis is poles apart. She is very religious and goes to church. She is a mother of two children. We get to see her in a completely different dynamic.”
Connie says she also worked with her stylist to lend credibility to her character’s piousness.
“That was a very conscious decision for me. I’m turning 43 next month. While I have a young soul and gel with my children well, I had to bring a different aura to Mavis to make her older,” she shares.
A big admirer of Dlamini, who played her daughter in The Wild, Connie says: “I’d work with that child anytime. She is professional. While she plays Shona’s daughter, I always consider her to be mine. Her and Boity were outstanding with that dynamic that siblings bring.
“This is very lucky for us to have both girls who are very popular and making a name in the industry. We are blessed that they can be a part of our growth as they find their way in this cut-throat industry.”
Now for the question everyone wants to know: how do Shona and her manage to share such a solid partnership on and off the screen?
“It’s awesome working with my husband. I get a lot of couples saying they would never work together. The biggest thing is that we respect each other so much. We understand that we will not always agree, even at home, and respect that. And we are patient with each other,” Connie explains.
She laughs: “We allow the other to finish their idea and then give our own. We are both very calm, but I am more of a diplomat.”
Connie points out that while Shona and her have always been part of the bigger picture in the projects they worked on, that wasn’t acknowledged in the screen credits.
With Rockville, they finally get to change that. And, with their names on it, they have taken painstaking measures to ensure the quality of their first venture is above par by getting their own camera equipment and so on.
While Shona continues to praise their co-stars like Trevor Gumbi, Shaleen Surtie-Richards, Dorothy Ann-Gould and Mpho Malatsi, he is interrupted by his wife, who decides to have the last word. They both chuckle about it.
Connie says: “We shot so fast – with only six weeks to complete it. At the outset, we made it clear, when I was on set acting, I wasn’t the boss, I was their colleague. So this production was very much a team effort. I am humbled by the way everyone hung in there.”
With South Africa’s crème de la crème a part of this groundbreaking venture for the Fergusons, Rockville is destined to find its rhythm with curious audiences. And that’s not just idle speculation. It’s a fact, as Shona and Connie make a winning team!
• Rockville starts on Mzansi Magic (DStv channel 161) on Wednesday, June 19 at 7pm.