TMG Entertainment recently had a chat with American comedian and film and television actor Orlando Jones‚ who is in South Africa at the moment to film a six-part US miniseries based on the life and times of Nelson Mandela‚ in which he stars as Oliver Tambo.
An interview with a seasoned comedian is often a sidesplitting fest‚ however‚ it seems Orlando is very well-versed in being able to strike a perfect balance between being funny and giving insightful information about the projects that he’s involved in — one of which being the upcoming TV drama.
Speaking at the first ever live recording of Comedy Central’s Roast Battle‚ the former House actor opened up about his experience of shooting the miniseries‚ revealing that he ‘’feels honoured’’ to be playing Oliver Tambo.
“It is one of the greatest experiences of my life‚” he revealed.
And while there have been a number of films and documentaries made in honour of the late Nelson Mandela‚ Orlando explained that this one would be different‚ pointing out that Madiba’s life story ‘’cannot be told in two hours.”
In addition‚ he claimed that the miniseries will give audiences a closer view into other political struggle heroes‚ who were also involved in the fight against Apartheid.
“It was a potpourri of people who were all sorts of races and colours‚” he said.
“The specificity of those men... you can’t get into that‚ unless you have the time to tell the story in this way.”
Having also done stand-up comedy for many years‚ Orlando came in as a guest judge‚ alongside Kenny Kunene‚ during the recording of a new seven-part Comedy Central TV series‚ in which South Africa’s top comedians go against each other.
Weighing in on the standard of comedy in the country‚ he explains that it’s high and that the “voices are real.”
Watch the full interview below:
