I wasn’t going to order until she arrived. I looked at the drinks menu and trust me I wasn’t thirsty any more after seeing the prices. “Can I get a Coke Lite with lemon and ice please,” I said to the waiter at Tasha’s Nicolway after he had been nagging me to order since I arrived.
I make my way to the bathroom and bang – I’m blessed with the presence of the beautiful Boitumelo Thulo standing at the entrance of Tasha’s. So enthralled by her beauty I forgot about my pressed bladder. We do the meet and greet thing and head straight to the table and get started with the interview.
Boitumelo Thulo, commonly known as “Boity”, is a 22 year old TV presenter, actress and model who describes herself as “a very chilled human being who’s on a journey to become a great actress”.
Boity started off presenting on SABC 1 and went on to star in an advert for Wimpy that gained her instant popularity. “The advert was like a step through the door into the industry, from there it’s been pretty good,” she said.
Boity has been focusing on her acting more than anything, and aspires to make a name for herself in the scene. She went on to mention some of the moves she’s made in order to reach her goal in acting. “I just shot a short film called Dear Betty, and I’m also on a popular drama series called Rockville. So far that’s what I’m working on at the moment.”
Besides her acting, Boity is also an ambassador for sports nutrition brand USN and is also part of the Sweat 1000 gym sessions that focus on fitness and exercise. She plans on starting her own fitness classes for females, and also is considering dropping a fitness DVD.
She shared some advice for females who want to be part of the fitness world but lack the confidence to start or are still very weight conscious. “Fitness is not about having to be a certain size to join, you can start anywhere. It’s about people becoming fit in all sizes. I mean everybody fits, pun intended,” giggled the beauty.
Boity has gone through a lot of emotional challenges on her way to the top. Regardless of how people treated her and how companies would reject her, she believes, “If you know why you are here, you won’t allow random people to tell you that you are not supposed to be here or doing this line of work.” She continues, “I move forward because I know my own journey, and it’s my journey. We are not sharing a path so I wouldn’t allow someone to tell me I’m not supposed to be here.”
As she stirs her green tea and the ice in my coke starts melting, the conversation leads to the challenges faced by the portrayal of woman in the media and what her opinion on feminism is. “The term feminism, I believe is often misinterpreted. I’ve always believed feminism is about empowering both genders and making sure there is equality amongst everyone.” She also added, “It’s not about women to becoming stronger than men, but more of a battle to get everyone to see that all genders are equal.”
Speaking of such challenges faced, we touch on the controversy that stemmed from her recent Marie Claire shoot where she posed naked to raise awareness for the Lunch Box Fund that helps feed disadvantaged kids. Her picture trended on Twitter for two days in a row and had people sharing their opinion with the hashtag #BoityReaction. “In terms of the Marie Claire thing, I watched it and didn’t interact with any of it.” Her opinion on the buzz was, “Through the publicity that the picture got, the Lunch Box Fund was able to gain the PR it wanted and needed, apart from people turning it into a joke or whatever.”
To round up the conversation, she shared some more details about her upcoming short film which she worked on with director Lara Cuhna. The movie is based on a black girl growing up in a small Afrikaans town and trying to make it out in the real world. “They called the movie Betty because they couldn’t pronounce my name, Reabetswe,” laughed Boity.
Boity Thulo is on the come up. Who knows, she just might stay trending on Twitter. And with all the work she’s been putting in she’ll probably be the media It-girl for a minute. While we all know her as the It-girl, in real life, she enjoys her own company and would prefer sitting at her place watching her favourite TV show The Fixer than going to some star-studded red carpet event. While she likes chilling, she still makes sure the work is done so she can reap the rewards and not worry about nothing but her chill.
Another Black Hippy Innerview, signed, sealed, delivered!!
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