Bonko Khoza Reflects on His Role As Mqhele Zulu on ‘The Wife’: “Mental Health Comes First”

• Bonko Khoza says his role on The Wife was the most difficult in his career
• The actor opened up about his battles portraying Mqhele Zulu and the work that went into committing to the role
• Bonko says he had to take a step back to nurture his mental health to continue performing at the highest level for his supporters

Bonko Khoza recently opened up about his role as Mqhele Zulu on the popular Showmax series, The Wife. The actor reflected on his role, saying that it was his most difficult because of the pressures of successfully portraying Mqhele.

Bonko went on to say that he had to take a break to focus on his mental well-being before he self-destructed.

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Bonko Khoza reflects on The Wife

In 2021, Showmax revealed the news of an adaptation of Dudu Busani-Dube's bestselling novel, Hlomu the Wife.

Bonko Khoza took on the role of Mqhele Zulu in the popular series and quickly rose to popularity. Talking to TimesLIVE, Bonko opened up about being on The Wife, saying that his role was the hardest he had to tackle:

"Committing to a guy like Mqhele, from a psychological point of view and an appearance point of view, was hard work. We crafted everything from his sound, how talks, how he walks."

He went on:

"I figured out how he ties his shoes, what shoes he wears, how he combs his hair so that I have this body of habits that are so far from Bonko."

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The actor said he worked hard to separate himself from his character to avoid being consumed by being Mqhele:

"We built Mqhele so far from Bonko so I could spare myself because he's quite a traumatic character."

Bonko speaks on mental health

The actor revealed that his mental health is important to him, saying that he was not in a good space.

Bonko says that factors like fame, fatigue and the workload he endured added to his mental pressures and led him to bid farewell to The Wife after just two seasons of playing Mqhele:

"Mental health comes first for everyone. I wasn't in a good space, was it the fame, was it the workload, was it fatigue? I think it was a combination of things."

He went on:

"I didn't see myself fit to deliver to the people who walk up to me. I felt that I would be taking lightly the love that I get."

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Bonko opens up about his dangerous past

In a recent report, Briefly News uncovered Bonko Khoza's troubled past where he credits acting for saving his life.

Bonko has been candid about his past and opened up about how his life was or would have turned out had he not pursued a career in the arts.

The actor recently shared photos living his best life with his wife Lesego and had Mzansi gushing over the loved-up couple.

Source: Briefly News