Big breaks don’t fall in one’s lap. But hard work, passion and hunger certainly help pave the way for such opportunities, especially when you make an unforgettable impression and, in doing so, have your praises sung in the right ear.
That is exactly what happened with South African actress Jenna Saras, who viewers might remember from “Fried Barry”.
I chatted with her ahead of the big-screen release of “Singleholic”.
She said: “Oh yay, it’s finally coming out. We started shooting in 2018. I know there were some issues with the edits and we did some ADR (automated dialogue replacement) in 2019. Then I was told there were some issues with the producer and director and it got put on hold.”
When the pandemic struck in 2020, the release was delayed and only opened at the box office last Friday.
She bagged the role of Georgina Winter when the actress originally cast for the role pulled out. With the film-makers in a tizz, a friend of hers who was working on the set suggested her.
The story revolves around Sarah Wilcox (Erica Ash) who moves to the island to complete her PhD as well as heal from a messy breakup.
Her friends Jackie Chisolm (Vanessa Williams) and Georgina nudge her back into the dating world. However, they come with polarised viewers on the topic of dating.
Jackie, channelling her inner Samantha Jones (“Sex and the City”), pushes her to live in the moment and have fun while Georgina, who is married but unhappy that the spark seems to have fizzled, advises her to play it safe.
And she certainly does so by swiping left and right, spotting a few potentials in the mix of options. But she treads very cautiously for fear of getting hurt again.
However, when Michael Webb (Stephen Bishop) comes along Sarah falls – and she falls hard. As her gym instructor Manuele (Tyson Beckford) put it, she’s been d**kmatised.
It isn’t long before things go pear-shaped. While Michael ticks all the boxes, he is not looking to be distracted from his goals.
This creates a few complications, a few disastrous rebound dates and plenty of tears before Sarah realises her inner strength and summons that confidence with gusto.
On working with the international cast, she shared: “It was very intimidating but it helped to know a lot of the SA crew who were working on the project. The wonderful Erica played my best friend. Tyson is just hilarious. And yeah, Vanessa definitely has that Samantha Jones vibe.”
Interestingly, Saras’s character underwent several transformations before she arrived on the set.
She laughed: “They ended up changing the script completely when I arrived. It tested your acting ability to the max. But Julia White and Bryan Barber brainstormed to make it more funny and light-hearted.”
Overall, Saras had a blast.
With the industry opening up, she’s keeping busy as it’s the commercial season in Cape Town. But she also has her eye on a few acting gigs, including an international one. And she will be shooting for a local feature film in May.
The thirtysomething actress is soaking up the experiences as she plants her feet in the industry. Given her striking features and talent, those big breaks aren’t too far off.
“Singleholic” is showing at cinemas, nationwide.