This is her very first leading role in a film. Before she had debuted on Generation, many moons ago, followed by the lead role as Zintle Lebone on The Wild, a telenovela, before hosting an endless list of award ceremonies, events and TV shows. Actress and TV presenter Minnie Dlamini (32) plays the character of Lu, one of the leading roles in the chick-flick The Honeymoon set to be released in 72 cinemas nationwide on Friday, 31 March alongside Kajal Bagwandeen and Tumi Morake and directed by writer Bianca Isaac and producer Gregory Mthanji. 

WHAT THE STORY IS ABOUT

The story starts with Kat's (Kajal Bagwandeen) fiancé who calls off their wedding the night before the big day, the ambitious but insecure Katya is devastated. Her long-time best friends, Noks (Tumi Morake) and Lu (Minnie Dlamini) persuade Kat to go on her honeymoon to Zanzibar with them. What was meant to be a holiday away from their problems, soon turns into a problem?" will their friendship survive a wild time in paradise? "In this movie, for the first time, we get to see people who look and act like us on screen and do the things we do for fun in a South African context,' Minnie says. "It is fun, it's a wild ride but the themes highlighted in this movie are what resonates mostly with me. It throws in some real questions that we need to ask ourselves like 'are you living your truth? Are you doing what's best for you? That is one of the themes that I love the most,' Minnie says.

THE MUCH-NEEDED THERAPY

The Honeymoon was shot in South Africa and Stone Town, Zanzibar soon after the lockdown restrictions had been eased. But more so, the crew and cast shot the film while Minnie was going through the highly publicised divorce with her ex-husband Quinton Jones. "This was the vacation I never knew I needed because I was going through so much at the time,' Minnie says. In playing the role of Lu. Minne says she could relate to the struggles of Lu's marriage. "My life was a huge source of inspiration for this film and my character. A lot of what Lu was going through was what I was facing at the time,' she says. "Mine is probably a lot more dramatic than Lu's but very similar. I was able to pull and draw from that and my friends who had gone through similar experiences and who felt they were losing themselves in their marriages and feeling like they are shadow versions of themselves,' she adds. "Lu's ability to fight for herself gave me, outside of the film, strength to fight for myself in my real life. This character is probably the most cathartic and healing experience I've ever had. I never needed to pay for a therapist. My therapy was all over The Honeymoon. It was a beautiful journey and I was able to draw from a lot of women in my life going through similar experiences.' Minnie says some days were hard on set but her team supported her and allowed her to cry when she needed to. " I remember days when we would be in the car, I'd look outside the window and cry. I didn't say what was wrong, years later people knew but the team held me down. We all had each other's backs and for everyone, no days were the same.'