Cast of ‘Blood and Water’ open up on stress of success

Season two of Blood and Water was released after a lot of anticipation from the public. And that pressure was not lost on the cast.

Speaking to Eyewitness News this week, cast members explained that working on season two of the series was challenging considering the success and praise that the first season received.

The South African original series premiered last year, winning the best TV drama as well as best achievement in sound and cinematography awards at the Saftas.

The first season’s success gave actors a standard to maintain – and then raise.

Thabanga Molaba, who plays KB Molapo, admitted to Eyewitness News that it was a big challenge trying to keep audiences captivated with a storyline that was as fascinating as the first season’s.

“I feel like season one set the tone and now all that we are doing is unpacking the story as a whole and continuing from the first season. But there was pressure filming season two,” Molaba said.

The gripping drama storyline of Cape Town’s fictional Parkhurst High School revolves around Puleng (Ama Qamata), a high school girl whose sister, Phume, was kidnapped after birth. On the same day of Phume’s birthday, Puleng was invited to the party of Fikile Bhele (Khosi Ngema), a new acquaintance Wade Daniels (Dillon Windvogel), who points out the two women’s resemblance. Puleng discovers that the mystery of her missing sister is not the only secret that her friends and family are keeping. Season two picks up directly from that plot.

Season two of the series was shot during the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant that the actors and crew had to adhere to safety measures on set. Qamata told Eyewitness News that it was challenging.

“Many of us had not experienced shooting on set during the pandemic, but we were assured that all would go well, and we spent a lot of time [together] as the cast because we were avoiding going out while shooting,” Qamata said.

But working on season two was also fun for Windvogel, who stars in the show as the son of the Parkhurst headmistress. He said that it was good seeing everyone, especially now that he’s coming out of his shell.

“During season one, I was very shy and observing everyone. But reuniting in season two was a lot of fun, especially behind the scenes, and the chemistry between the actors can be seen on the screen,” Windvogel said.

The seven-episode second season was released on 24 September 2021.