I don’t have a plan B, I enforce plan A – Siv Ngesi

Siv Ngesi doesn’t believe in quiet ambition. From the moment he was labeled “disruptive” on his very first day of school, it was clear he was never meant to shrink himself to fit the room. Four decades later, that same high-energy presence has carried him from childhood speech and drama classes to international film sets alongside some of the world’s most respected actors.

This is a Q&A about craft, courage, and what it means to fall forward, always at full speed.

Q. Looking back at your early days in the industry, what first drew you to acting and film as a career path? 

So I’ve been doing speech and drama since I was six years old. On my first day of school, my mother got complaints that said I was disruptive and misbehaving in class. Thank goodness my mother was a principal, so my mom put me in sports and speech and drama, and my life changed ever since. 

At the age of nine years old, I did my first job as a Kool-Aid commercial, and then my second job was the world touring production of Les Mis, and I’ve never looked back. What drew me to acting is that I could play other people, that what I do so naturally, high energy, impersonate people, could actually be a career. There are many young kids out there whose lights are dimmed because people say they’re disruptive or loud, but sometimes it just takes you to have the right mother to fulfil your dreams. 

Q. You’ve grown from local productions to internationally recognized projects, what moment made you realize, “This is really happening”? 

I think for me, I’ve done a lot of local and a lot of international productions. And the moment when I realised this is really happening, I think when you’re in the industry, I think it’s like a treadmill. It doesn’t matter how fast you run on a treadmill, you’re still not moving forward. 

And I feel like that’s how it feels to be in the South African industry. So for me, I always try to keep as humble as possible. I try to reach for the stars with my feet firmly grounded. 

So I think every time you book a job, you’re like, oh, it’s really happening. But the next month, you don’t have a job. So I think for me, it’s about staying as humble as possible and not looking too far. 

Q. How has your approach to acting evolved since your first major role? 

I think for me it’s like sport. I come from a very sporting background. I utilize my sport in art, and I think art and sport are so different but so the same at the same time. I think my work ethic is what’s helped me the most in this acting industry. There’s many people who are more talented than me, look better than me, but for me, I take it from acting and sports and I make sure I outwork them all. 

I wanna improve, I wanna learn, I wanna learn all aspects of me. But definitely now, as I’m getting older, something I realised is that a lot of time, less is more. When you are a kid, you just want to do more, do more, do more… and sometimes you realise that actually doing less and being as authentic as possible is actually what is needed. So I think the older I’ve gotten and how I’ve evolved, I think I’ve just captured this—consistent and authentic as possible—and less is sometimes more. 

Q. You’re known for your versatility, especially in comedy and drama. How do you prepare differently for these genres? 

I think comedy and drama are the same thing.  It’s such a fine line between the two. It’s all about real. It’s all about authenticity and consistency. So, I always find it interesting why people give such credit in those different art forms, but they actually are the same thing. It’s all about art. It’s all about timing. And for me, it’s all about the setup. And to these different genres it’s quite important to know what genre you actually are in, as much as I say they are similar, you just have to know what you’re playing and how the beats differ. But once again authenticity and real.  

Q. What has been the most challenging role of your career so far, and why did it push you out of your comfort zone? 

I struggle with the romcoms, to be truthfully honest. I feel like they act like they’re real, where a lot of times they’re just as fake as fantasy. I find them quite difficult. I find the worlds that are created so fake and over the top and fictional, might as well be walking on water or in a spaceship on Mars. But I always just go back to what I said: I keep it as real and authentic as possible.   

Q. The film industry is highly competitive. What were some of the biggest obstacles you faced breaking into the space? 

This industry is brutal, it’s ruthless. I think for me it’s about finding the balance between being ambitious, in your face, but still being humble. I’ve always been cocky, I’ve always been in your face, and I’ve always been unapologetic about it. It’s about being able to know when to be cocky and when to be humble, and when to stand your ground and pick your battles. 

I think that is what I struggle with the most, is finding the balance between this cocky, overconfident young man that I am, or I’ve grown up to be, or when to be humble, quiet, and be able to show humility, which I do have, but a lot of people know me as this cocky guy. And just being able to keep pushing in this industry for as long as possible, because I think the greatest and worst thing about this industry is that many people give up. Those who give up give us extra space to be able to dominate the space. It’s always hard to be able to push through and beyond it, and just being able to be in this space without giving up. 

Q. Was there ever a moment you considered stepping away from acting, and what kept you going during that time? 

There has never been a time where I thought of giving up. I’ve never understood this thing of having a plan B, because the only plan B is to enforce plan A. I’ll never understand people wanting things to fall back on. I wanna fall forward so that I can see where I’m heading. I don’t want to fall backwards, so I’ve never ever thought of quitting acting. 

Every single day I believe I should be further, better, should be more famous, should achieve more, so every single day I’m pushing. I’m quite blessed I come from a sporting background that has helped me a lot. I’ve never lacked self-confidence, and for me doubt is the enemy, and I continuously learn in doubt, and that there’s no growth in the comfort zone. 

Q. How have your personal life experiences influenced the way you portray characters on screen? 

It’s actually a very good question. I’m 40 years old now and I’m getting a lot of characters of men that are quite emotional and vulnerable. And I think for me, in the space that I am as a man, I’m always trying to unlearn. I’m always trying to learn. I was raised around a lot of females. So the point I am in my life is about being a better man. And I think a lot of the characters I get because a lot of people know that I’m in the spaces that are quite female orientated, which is if it’s not fighting period poverty or it’s doing drag or pole dancing. So I think a lot of times when people cast me, they cast knowing my personal life. 

So currently every character I get, I always try and inject a bit of positive masculinity where possible. And if the character is not a positive male, then I have to play by ear. But a lot of the times currently I’m getting a lot of positive masculine characters and I’m utilizing that because that’s the space that I’m in at the moment. And I’m always trying to unlearn and learn and be better. 

Q. Representation matters in film, how important is it for you to tell authentic African stories through your work? 

Representation is very important. I wish I grew up in a space when I was a kid, when I saw stories of people that look like me or who are me. And I realize now that I’m 40 that I didn’t grow up in that space. I didn’t see enough black role models. So now I try to be that black role model and tell African stories, beautiful African stories that are not just about apartheid or black fatherless households. I want to tell stories about positive black stories of men being great fathers, great influences in people’s lives. I remember growing up, my best influences of black was politicians. And obviously, in my own house.  

So yes, representation is important. I try my best to tell incredible stories about black stories, stories that are actually universal, that go beyond black and white. But I do think it’s very important that the young kids see people who look like them on the screen and different stories of blackness. Just positive black stories. I grew up in the days of all you saw on TV was fatherless homes, African American gangsters, etc, it is my mission to tell better African stories. 

Q. What lessons has the South African film industry taught you that you think prepared you for international stages? 

South Africa has a growing industry and it doesn’t matter how good you are a lot of the times, you just got to keep on pushing. It humbles you often. So when I do work overseas, the conditions are just sublime. So for me, as much as I love acting in South Africa, the conditions, the rates are definitely below standards of international productions. 

So being in South Africa, obviously you end up having to work so much harder. You have to end up making sure that your check lasts longer than it should last. You end up working more than you should work. So when I go international, they pay you more than you in South Africa. But actually I’ve learned a lot from being in the South African acting industry, which actually has made me better as a better performer, has made me work harder to be able to pick my battles, to be able to say no, to be able to fight the battles that I need to fight. 

So I’ll be honest, every time I meet performers from all over the world, South Africans have something special because we learn it from the conditions we go through in South Africa. So I challenge all of us, African industry people, all the people, the gatekeepers to do better and be better. 

Q. Is there a particular filmmaker or actor you still dream of collaborating with? 

I cannot wait to work with Sterling K. Brown from This Is Us. He’s an absolute genius. I honestly have been watching his work for so long and I’ve actually seen a lot of what he does. He always plays these strong, vulnerable, broken, but like when I say broken, men who are trying to be better. And I think 

If you’re looking for a perfect man, show me a perfect woman. And if you can’t, we just want people to be learning how to unlearn and to be better. And he always picks the most incredible characters. It’s not ambition. I will work with Sterling K. Brown. I’m a few calls away from him at the moment. I’ve already worked with Viola Davis already, and that is an absolute dream. So I’m one step closer. 

Q. What role or type of story do you feel you haven’t told yet but are eager to explore? 

I have a script that I’m busy looking for funding for and I’m going to get funding this year. I want to play a man, a Xhosa man, who has grown up in the Eastern Cape but loves the water. It’s not often we tell stories with black people in water. I played competitive Western Province water polo, so I love water. 

And we don’t really link black people with water. But in the Eastern Cape, black people love water. But yeah, this year is the year. We’re playing a film with a friend of mine called Tuso. And we’re going to be creating magic about black people and how they view water. 

Q. Looking ahead, do you see yourself expanding more into producing, directing, or staying primarily in front of the camera? 

Yes, I’ve been producing for many years, producing a lot of theatre, comedy, stage, you know, absolutely love it. Short films, long films, been doing it for a long time. So I do a lot of producing, do a lot of funding of projects as well. But I will one day move into directing, but at the moment I have too much of an ego to be a director. So I need a couple of years to humble myself before I can direct. But that’s a long way to go. 

Q. For aspiring actors watching your journey, what advice would you give about longevity and staying true to yourself in the film industry? 

 It’s going to sound like a contradictory statement, but the most powerful word in the industry is no. Or should we say no, thank you. The word no is a sentence. It’s a paragraph. It’s a book. It’s a trilogy. 

It’s just the most important word ever. But on the same hand, when you’re starting off, do as much work as possible. In the beginning, you might not be getting paid, but make sure you work and you get in front of camera as much as possible. But always never be scared to say no. No, thank you. And never, ever stop believing in yourself. Believe in yourself 220%. So even on a bad day when you’re doubting yourself, you still believe in yourself 110%. 

And fail hard. Fail hard. Remind me of rugby. I played rugby growing up. And if someone’s running towards you and they’re running faster than you and you go into the tackle going slower, you’ll get hurt. So in other words, when you make mistakes, make them at full speed. Go guns blazing and make sure you make mistakes at full speed at all times. 

Q. What’s next for you, are there any upcoming roles or releases you’re particularly excited about right now? 

This is a big year. An American film called Alpha is coming out. Spinner’s season two coming out. Invisible, Dionne Mayer is coming out. I’m busy shooting an American film as well. Next year, early next year, I have Children of Blood and Bones with Viola Davis, Idris Elba, Tussauds. It’s quite a big time.