After graduating from the Market Theatre Laboratory in 2013, Kagiso Rathebe has spent the past 10 years carving out a space for himself in the industry that ultimately defines him as one of the country’s most versatile actors. Well known for his roles on shows such as Keeping Score, Generations: The Legacy, Spoorloos, The Queen, Netflix’s How To Ruin Christmas and more – Kagiso is best known for his villainous role as Amo on Scandal!
In addition to this, Kagiso recently appeared in Amazon Prime’s ‘My Girlfriend’s Father’ and also leads a stellar cast in the Mzansi Magic Crime Thriller ‘Maru A Pula’, where he plays a disgraced detective, grieving the loss of his child while having to investigate the case of another missing girl.
In 2018 Kagiso landed his first international role as Chidike Akindele on the BBC drama, Noughts & Crosses – starring opposite Bonnie Mbuli as her lover boy-toy. Within this same year Kagiso starred as the lead in the award-winning short film, Opus – based on the true story of classical bassist Vimbs Mavimbs. The film went on to have a run at multiple festivals abroad, including Atlanta, Washington DC and Italy – while going on to win the Best Short Narrative award at both The Silicone Valley Film Festival & the Jozi Film Festival respectively.
In 2022, after having starred on E-tv’s Scandal! for two and a half years, the producers decided to give Kagiso’s character an exit story; but not without turning him into a complete villain. While bittersweet, Kagiso relished the chance at being able to play out and complete his characters story in the most satisfying way. In a excerpt from a Times Live interview regarding playing the role of Amo Kagiso says ”There were certainly moments, especially as we got deeper into the meat of the story. I mean this is a very triggering subject for so many people. But I’ve never been one to shy away from a role simply because it was controversial. My job is to tell stories and to hopefully move people in some way or another, even if it meant half the country hating me. As long as I’m doing my job, I’m always satisfied.”
Kagiso’s portrayal of a once charming, likeable boyfriend turned cold-blooded villain with a broken heart, earned him rave reviews not only from the producers of the show but also avid viewers online – seeing his character and the show itself trend at number one on twitter for 2 months. Amo’s storyline caused an incredible bump in ratings for the long-running soapie, jumping from 4.9 million to 5.27 million viewers in the space of a month.
Kagiso also has an extensive history in voice-work, having done live announcing in department stores such as Game & Builders Warehouse for the better part of six years, while also gaining experience in short Radio Commercials and Corporate Campaign Videos. In 2015 Kagiso also hosted The International Franchise Expo at Sandton Convention Centre, which ran for three days.
Having already proven how malleable he is performance wise, in terms of the roles he’s embodied so far, Kagiso now aims to venture into more physically demanding roles given his personal love for keeping active, whether it be in the gym or at the gun-range. He has a deep respect for the craft and will check his ego at the door every time he steps on a set – as this is a boy who understands that he is only ever in service to the character as well as the story.
For bookings or more information on Kagiso, please get in contact with an agent at OSM Talent.
