Cape Town actor Irshaad Ally, who plays Rhafiek Samsodien in the soapie “Suidooster”, says fans are going overboard with hateful comments towards him, even when he is out of character.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/181186024924672Since the death of the character AB Samsodien (played by Cedwyn Joel) early in May, the Samsodien family has been in turmoil and Rhafiek is blaming his half-sister Bianca (Simone Biscombe) for his dad’s death because of her relationship with Dirk (Evan Hengst).
Then Rhafiek’s twin brother Rhiyaaz (Anton Jephta), who also inherited shares in AB’s Oos Wes pharmacy, decided to give it to Bianca, as there was an unsigned will in which AB said he wanted Bianca to have shares in the pharmacy.
This created an even deeper divide between Rhafiek and Bianca, and it was open war between the siblings, which drove their grieving mother Mymoena (Jill Levenberg) over the edge.
Mymoena then decided to side with Bianca, which caused even more drama. Rhafiek came across as very unreasonable and then Mymoena had a heart attack earlier this week thanks to all the stress.
Ally took to Instagram to ask fans to separate his fictional character from real life.
“Why is everybody attacking me about Rhafiek? When you see me on the street, you are seeing Irshaad, not Rhafiek.
“I only perform what they give me, I do not write the story. I actually had my reservations against this story but I didn’t complain much.
“If you want to get your frustrations out, do it with the writers. Calm down, it’s not real, it’s just a story, in fact leave the writers and everyone else, watch the story, throw your TV with a sloffie (slipper).”
Ally told IOL Entertainment: “Sometimes when I’m in the mall, older ladies come up to me upset.
“One lady told me, ‘I don’t like you’, and I asked if she doesn’t like me or Rhafiek, she said: ‘It’s you, I don’t like you’.
“At one point a lady hit me on my shoulder because she was angry at my character and all I can say is, ‘eina’, because it’s elderly people.
“People need to realise it’s just a story; sometimes they make me nervous.
“I think this storyline is bad for me because those aunties are my target market, they love me and I love them back, and now they don’t like me.
“It’s all fine and I try to handle it and although they make me nervous, I think I’m ready for that klap (smack),” he joked.
“Suidooster” publicist Wilmer Muller said: “Like with many other ‘Suidooster’ storylines, it is clear that our viewers truly relate to our characters and their respective daily dramas. ‘Suidooster’s’ fans see them as residents of Ruiterbosch and the stories we write and tell resonate with them.
“A big part of the DNA of any good soap is that viewers start to see characters as people who are part their daily lives, as such TV shows become part of many people’s everyday routine.
“Though viewers often call actors by their character names, when they meet them, it is a sign that the public feel familiar with them since these characters ‘visit’ them daily in their living rooms.”