I meet Gugu Gumede at her favourite haunt, Olives & Plates in Hyde Park’s Exclusive Books. She eats here every week with her four-year-old daughter, who was understandably put out when she realised she was not invited this time.
Netflix’s much-anticipated series The Polygamist has just premiered and Gumede, who plays the lead role, is running on anticipation and very little sleep.
“I’ve always wanted a role like this,” she says. “People would tell me I was a good actress and I’d think, ‘No, you don’t actually know how good I am yet.’ This is the role that lets people see.”
She has an easy confidence and an open book quality that is disarming and instantly inviting. She tells me it is her default personality setting, learnt early in life. Born in KwaZulu-Natal, Gumede grew up between worlds. Politics, family obligations and circumstances meant a childhood spent moving constantly.
She attended nine schools, including boarding school, where her easy manner and adaptable nature became a survival skill. “When you’ve changed schools that many times, you learn confidence,” she says. “You learn that life is always moving and that you have to move with it.”
It was also a childhood lived against the backdrop of turbulent political years. As the daughter of the late National Freedom Party founder Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi, who previously served as chair of the IFP, she grew up acutely aware of danger.
At the age of nine she discovered she could make herself cry on cue and delighted in convincing adults of imaginary dramas
She recalls overhearing conversations about political violence and worrying constantly about her mother’s safety. “There was a time my mother came home with a bullet hole in her car,” she says matter-of-factly. “Being away at boarding school was scary because I was always wondering what was happening at home.”
Yet it was her mother’s courage that shaped her most profoundly. “She taught me not to take nonsense lying down. She taught me not to be fearful.”
Acting entered her life early. At the age of nine she discovered she could make herself cry on cue and delighted in convincing adults of imaginary dramas. “When my mother believed me, I’d stop and ask, ‘So was that good? Do you think I can act?’”
Her mother saw the spark immediately and encouraged it. By high school Gumede was winning drama competitions and collecting awards. There was talk of law school, as there often is in ambitious families, but acting never loosened its grip.
So she set her sights on the US. At 19 she left for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. It was a leap of faith, not only for her but for her mother, who had watched her rebellious teenage years with understandable concern.
“I’d been giving my mother grey hairs,” she laughs. “I was naughty. Not criminal, just naughty.”
In Los Angeles, however, something shifted. “I focused completely,” she says. “I understood what it cost my mother to send me there. Every dollar mattered.”
Living in California was transformative. The Hollywood dream suddenly became tangible. “You’d see people you recognised from television and realise they’re just human beings. It made everything feel possible.”
It also reinforced her belief in the power of imagination. “Everything I said I wanted to do, I’ve done. It taught me how powerful your words are.”
My acting coach used to say that life problems are acting problems. Every loss, every joy, every experience becomes part of the artist
— Gugu Gumede
A chance encounter with veteran producer Dumisani Dlamini convinced her that South Africa still held opportunities. She returned home, determined to build a career before heading back abroad. But life had other plans. Shortly after her return, her mother suffered a devastating stroke. Gumede stayed. “It became clear why I was meant to be home.”
Seven years later, in 2021, her mother died from Covid-related complications. The experience changed Gumede profoundly.
“When you lose someone who is your everything, it changes you.”
That grief, she believes, ultimately deepened her craft. “My acting coach used to say that life problems are acting problems. Every loss, every joy, every experience becomes part of the artist.”
The years that followed were marked by steady work and persistence. From her breakout role on Generations to a succession of acclaimed television performances, Gumede quietly built one of the industry’s most impressive careers. It wasn’t always easy.
“When I started, people would say I only got opportunities because of who my mother was. But I studied this. I trained for this. I worked for this.”
Today, few would question her credentials. Which brings us to The Polygamist. The series explores modern polygamy through the eyes of the women caught inside it. Gumede plays Joyce, whose seemingly perfect life begins to unravel as her husband’s appetite for multiple relationships becomes impossible to ignore. What fascinated her most was that the story refuses to romanticise the situation. “This isn’t really about traditional polygamy,” she says. “It’s about women dealing with the consequences of men’s choices.”
She lights up discussing Joyce’s evolution. “At the beginning she’s soft and trusting. Then you watch her find her power. Her voice changes. Her posture changes. She becomes someone completely different.”
The role resonates personally. Gumede’s own father was a polygamist, as was her maternal grandfather. “So I understood the world.”
What excites her most is seeing women respond to the story. “We usually hear the man’s side. This time we hear all the women’s sides.”
Sunday Times Lifestyle
