In the dog-eats-dog entertainment industry, where actors often struggle to find work, being multi-lingual seems to be the only solution.                   

Just ask TV actor Chumani Pan. Speaking to Zimoja this week, the former Generations actor said if there is one thing that he prides himself with and which has served as a survival weapon in the tough acting industry it has to be teaching himself various South African languages.

MUCH FAN FARE

Chumani said he always has an ace up his sleeve among his peers because of his fluency in the Afrikaans language.

Over the years the Eastern Cape-born star has featured in various Afrikaans dramas including Die Sentrum on SABC2.

He recently played one of the lead roles on Projek Dina on Kyknet and also starred in an Afrikaans movie called Atlantis.

Chumani said he was grateful that he had been warmly welcomed by the Afrikaans community and was finding himself getting attention on the streets from white fans.

"I'm just grateful for the offers that keep coming my way. We are in a very tough industry where you are as good as your last role. I think the best advice I can give to any actor is for them to learn as many languages as possible," he said.

SPACE FOR BLACK CHARACTERS

Over the years many actors such as former Generations actor Roderick Japhta, who has fallen on hard times, have cited the language barrier as a stumbling block in securing acting gigs.            

"The industry is flooded. There are many young actors who have taken the industry by storm. One might be a good actor and still struggle to find work because they can't speak a certain language," he said.            

On Projek Dina, which was about a task team assembled to solve cases of missing people in Cape Town, Chumani played a lead detective. 

He said had he not taken the initiative earlier in his career to learn the Afrikaans language he would have missed out on opportunities to find work outside English or Xhosa productions. Chumani said as an actor it is important to be multi-lingual in order to land jobs.

"I think every actor by now knows the importance of speaking different languages. As an actor you need to be versatile. For me it was all about arming myself and knowing that if there is an audition for an Afrikaans drama I can confidently go and try out. We live in a multi-lingual country where you need to be able to easily cross over to other languages if the jobs are scarce in your main language. And, a lot of Afrikaans shows are now making space for more black characters," he said.