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| Tellyrence Wayong'o |
“There is nothing like a celebrity life in Tanzania and even in Africa. We hardly call ourselves stars. A star as the name implies is someone who can be seen from far away but cannot be touched.
I don’t think we are stars here. We are just famous people. We are known people because we are on TV but the star life does not reflect on us, he said in an exclusive interview with Hamu News Paper on Wednesday, in the company of his manager, Alex Wasponga.
According to the 21-year-old boy, as a star there are some peculiar things that come to play and one of such is wealth. Here in Tanzania, he said actors and actresses are less paid.
This, he explained, was because most Taanzanian’s movies are not made on big budgets as they are only done on individual pockets or bank accounts. Big companies, he continued, also “don’t like to help the industry by investing in it. Rather, they prefer to relax in the comfort of their homes to watch movies.”
However, he didn’t blame them much as he said they are scared they would lose if they invest in the industry due to improper structures. Tellyrence also mentioned piracy as a major problem of the industry that scares producers. The only way to curb it, he observed, was to encourage the creation of more cinemas.
“Piracy is a big problem. When a movie comes out and people duplicate it and sell, the producer loses. The only way to save this situation is to create more cinemas. Before the movie is released on the street for people to unlawfully duplicate it, if the cinemas are there, the movies would be shown in the cinemas and the producer gets his money before you start selling,” he opined.
Seeing him on the screens, many think obviously Tellyrence is a womanizer, an arrogant chap or perhaps “the too known” type. But getting close to him, one realizes that Tellyrence, otherwise called Wang'oyo, is very different from how his roles in movies portray him.
“If people look at me like a womanizer because they saw me on TV womanizing, then I think I hit my mark as a good actor,” he said.
Tellyrence started acting in Vitimbi on Kbc in 2000. He acquired his nickname ‘Wang’oyo’ on this TV Comedy. The first movie he featured in was One by One where he was a Supporting actor alongside Mahsein Awadh with Issa Musa in amain role. Now he has starred in over 20 movies. Like his colleagues, he’s also eyeing Hollywood.
“I want to be in a movie with Leonardo De Carprio,” he stated. He loves listening to Bob Maley.
Born a half Tanzanian and half Kenyan, Tellyrence speaks English, French and Swahili
