"There are positives and negatives to staying in one soapie role for too long, the negative being that you become synonymous with that one character and name for a lifetime. It becomes difficult for people to see you in a different light, your work is associated with one character. You simply become known as Katlego, [her character name in Isidingo], and not Kgomotso Christopher, the actress," Christopher said.
"As much as I loved the character I built over five years and appreciated the love the character received, I needed to resist the temptation to be comfortable and stuck in the same place professionally. I wanted a chance to play other roles and for viewers to get used to seeing me in a variety of roles."
Christopher (36) is having a delightful time as Yvonne on Scandal!, a character she describes as a hustler of note and a woman who always finds her way out of sticky situations.
"Yvonne is a gambler at heart and doesn't want to work a nine-to-five job. She's not rich but loves the nice life. She can be ratchet, sweet, appear classy. She's a woman with many faces and uses them to get what she wants."
Christopher had always loved the performing arts from a young age. When she was four, she begged her parents to open the back of their TV set so she could jump in and appear on the screen.
"That same TV was still open at the back when I got my first pay cheque from the first TV commercial I landed while in varsity. I replaced it with a new one.
"I'm a natural performer. It's not like I chose the profession, I always felt it was more of a calling, that's the reason I went for training in theatre, specialising in drama."
After matric, she studied for a bachelor of arts in law and politics at University of Cape Town and did her masters degree at New York's Columbia University between 2001 and 2004.
"I had an incredible time living in New York. I was taught by internationally acclaimed lecturers and arts practitioners while absorbing life as a theatre student right at the centre of world theatre, Broadway."
Between 2004 and 2008, Christopher and her husband lived in the UK, where her husband worked as an attorney at a law firm in London. She explored work in international sales and acquisitions at world-acclaimed production houses, including 20th Century Fox, Channel 4 International and FremantleMedia.
The Christophers then returned to SA, and in 2010, she got her first lead role on TV in the award-winning e.tv drama series 4Play: Sex Tips For Girls as Nox Madondo, an unhappy wife, married to a wealthy philanderer.
Looking back, she's been around, from her first role on Backstage in 2001, Madam & Eve, SOS, SeSotho sitcom Moferefere Lenyalong and a raft of stage productions across the country and in New York.
Early this year, she had to juggle between the sets of the SABC2 drama series Thola, Mzansi Magic's Rockville 4 and Scandal!.
But this is what Christopher had hoped for when she chose to follow her heart for new opportunities in 2016. The audience is finally seeing her as an actress not defined by a single role or well-loved character.
Source: sundayworld