South African actress and media personality, Natasha Thahane credited the strong women in her life for helping her climb the ladder of success on an episode of The Melany Viljoen Podcast.
THE MELANY VILJOEN PODCAST
The Mel Viljoen podcast sees Real Housewives van Pretoria star Mel Viljoen interviewing South African celebrities on their stories of success. Her vision is to inspire the youth of South Africa with the success stories of these celebrities.
Melany “Mel” Viljoen opened the episode by asking Natasha Thahane where she was born, to which the Blood & Water star revealed Soweto, Gauteng. She explained that she was raised by an entire community, which she feels got her to where she is today.
Mel asked Natasha how she got to where she was today and Natasha replied saying she had stumbled upon those blessings and built on it.
“I stumbled upon all these blessings. I was not ready, you know? But I was equipped for that season and I managed to get through that season, to be where I am today. To be able to manage my finances, to be able to have a great team behind me, to invest in my craft, my different skills, new skills… like playing an instrument and all those things. I literally put in the hard work after everything just happened and fell on my lap. I just put in the hard work,” said Natasha.
NATASHA THAHANE: ‘I DIDN’T WANT TO BE AN ACTRESS’
However, Natasha noted that she did not intend on being an actress.
“I didn’t want to be an actress, I didn’t think I would be an actress because I studied accounting first, before being where I am today. So, I stumbled upon the blessing of ministering through my craft and through all the characters I get to portray on screen,” she continued.
When asked what advice she would give aspiring actresses, who want to be as big as she is in the entertainment industry, she said go to school!
“I definitely believe in school, which I did not go to before landing my first school. But I then left at the pinnacle of my career to go to further my studies, because I wanted to know more about the art industry. It is not just me and acting, there’s lots of things that go into it. Also, understanding yourself, having to be a character and not take the character home. That comes with a lot of work,” she advised.
Natasha revealed that she learnt how to edit student films. She revealed that she also recently picked up the skill of playing the keyboard. Mel explained that she herself had to learn multiple skills, such as editing, content, social media, business and more, which she went out and studied.
Natasha went on to credit her success to the strong women who raised her.
“I was taken care of. I was brought up by a lot of strong women in my family. And I literally try and carry it all the way. Every time I feel like giving up I remember all those words that they told me growing up, you know, I remember all those things,” she said.
The podcast is available for streaming on Spotify, click here to listen.