Jack Devnarain, who played the role of Rajesh Kumar in Isidingo, reflected on Darlington Michaels.
South African actor Jack Devnarain was once Isidingo Following the news of Michaels' death, his colleague Darlington Michaels spoke out.
“He had a rare ability to connect with everyone working on set, including the actors and technical staff,” Devnarain said. The Citizen On Sunday morning.
Michaels, who was popularly known by his character Georgie “Papa G” Zamdela on the SABC 3 soap opera, passed away on Friday.
“He was a born entertainer, so when he was on set, everyone wanted to connect with him on a personal level, and filming the scenes was almost secondary.”
Related article: Isidingo's Georgie “Papa G” Zamdela dies after illness
“Absolute professional”
Devnarain, who played the role of Rajesh Kumar in Isidingo, praised Michaels as a colleague.
“Obviously, he was a consummate professional, he was dramatised and understood the discipline and rigour of working as a professional actor.
“The difference with Darlington is that he just did his job and expressed himself on the set. It wasn't an effort at all. In fact, he made it look fun and light, which is what he intended for everyone,” Devnarain asserted.
It had been a while since Devnarain had spoken to Michaels. “My last contact with Darlington was by phone during COVID. I knew he was quite ill,” Devnarain said.
“We knew his health was deteriorating, especially during COVID-19 when he didn’t have a lot of support around him outside of close friends and family.
But he had no medical assistance and it was very difficult for him to move around or continue working. He relies a lot on support, especially during the pandemic, and I was worried about him.”
Devnarain said Michaels was a fiercely independent person who never let life's adversities hold him back.
“He always said he was doing well and that he was fine. So he was extraordinarily brave and never revealed the true state of his health.”
The actor said he regrets that the pair didn't talk more often.
“Because he was much older than me and a veteran, I was concerned about knowing his health and I regret not having continued communication over the years.”
Related article: Connie Chiume passed away just as she was beginning to reap the rewards of her illustrious career
Working conditions for actors in South Africa
Michaels spoke candidly about the current state of working conditions for South African actors, whose contracts do not include residual royalties.
After Michaels died, Devnarain took over as his Isidingo It's also the work of her colleague, the recently deceased actress Connie Tume.
He did this to highlight the plight of South African actors who are not recognised by the industry or the government.
Service to the Nation ✔️
Love for their work ✔️
National Treasure ✔️
Government Awards❌
Medical Assistance❌
Residual profits, royalties ❌
State Funeral ❌
Half-mast ❌Not all patriots served political purposes. pic.twitter.com/YjNGzc3ZlC
— Jack Devnarain (@JackD157) September 14, 2024
“As far as I understand it, when you sign a contract, you're getting 25 percent of the revenue per episode as royalties on reruns,” Michaels said in an interview several years ago.
“People have the impression that I'm an expensive guy,” he says. “I'm not. We are suffering. What you see is pure poverty. We look right, we look left. But at this age, there are still plenty of temporary jobs available.”
Related article: South African actors have good reason to demand better terms
The government let the actors down.
“It is yet another tragedy that Darlington Michaels, another large veteran of the industry, will pass away without being able to pass on his residual income to his estate, family and dependents because the state has failed to provide any protections or reform statutory provisions.”
Devnarain said there was nothing in South African law that would allow actors to claim royalties or residual profits for the “continuing exploitation” of their work.
“That means Darlington's Isidingo All his other film and television projects will continue to be seen and broadcast by the various broadcasters who produce the shows.
His work will be seen all over the world, streamed, licensed, and everyone but him will continue to make money off his work and his image. He is, of course, just one example.”
Devnarain, who is also president of the South African Actors Guild (SAGA), said the government was not contributing to the welfare of South African actors.
“Our government has completely failed to implement any reforms to statutory protections. We are being openly exploited by producers and broadcasters, and these two groups are constantly and shamelessly obstructing any transition or reform to a fairer and more equitable system that would allow actors to earn some form of royalties to support our livelihoods,” he said.
“This is a failure of the industry, a failure of the government and it's very disappointing that we haven't been able to achieve the transformation we've been trying to achieve since 1994. We're the only industry that has failed to transform for 30 years.”
Devnarain said this type of treatment of actors was unique to South Africa and compared it to countries such as Brazil, Australia and New Zealand.
“All of these creative sectors are guaranteeing actors the right to royalties, and you'll find that the global North already has those rights secured in some form of union or collective bargaining agreement and some form of statutory provision.”
Read now: South African actors take their fight to parliament
