A new television station will be launching on DSTV. A South American soap opera TV station called Telemundo on channel 118.
The station will have us seeing the talents of Latin Americans showcasing on our televisions. One can think back to a time of the popular soap opera, Passions. A lot of Batswana fell in love with most of the characters amongst them Jesse MetCafe who most people think of as Hispanic.
Angelica Celaya who will be in one of the television shows told the Sunday Standard that she is happy that the African audience will be able to see all of her hard-work and invite her into their homes every single night to see the products she has been working on.
“It is a humbling experience because it’s not usual to be working in Latin America and having my products seen on a different continent on the other side of the ocean,” she said. “And to me it is very humbling and it is an honour to actually have the opportunity to be in your homes.”
Celaya said that she hoped that we will fall in love with her character and hopes people won’t stop tuning in.
Celaya began her career as an actress at the age of 20. She studied Psychology at University and had the opportunity with Telemundo to go and study acting in Mexico City.
At 21, she got the opportunity to work on her first Novella and has not stopped working since.
Asked why she decided to change from Psychology to acting, she said: “For me, it’s relevant because psychology deals with the human mind because the mind is not tangible. We cannot touch it. And it is something that changes continuously depending on how life affects us. And that’s what I think these characters are. To me, I get the opportunity to go into each character and give them traits that are unique and give life to something that is on a piece of paper. And to go into that mindset and start studying these characters that have been written for me. And see why that character functions that way and why it says such things and why it reacts in such a way. Why does she love him and why does she hate her? That, to me, is like treating any patient in psychology. It’s like you want to know more about that person’s mind. So to me I can say it goes hand in hand.”
She added:”And, in a way, it is a little bit of therapy because it allows me to go and study my own abilities and my own mind. And things we might suppress. Sometimes we suppress love or we suppress anger. Or we suppress wanting to move forward.”
Celaya says all the roles she takes are of strong women and she does not like playing victims.
“I don’t like to play the very innocent girl who has everything bad happening to her. I don’t like that. I like portraying women as strong women that have power; women that are empowered throughout society and that have the ability to choose their own destiny,” she said emphatically. “I like portraying that because I believe that we have little girls seeing the Novellas. I want them to see that they too can achieve their aspirations and they too can have careers. And be strong and be prominent in society.”
She says that her upbringing had everything to do with her not wanting to play the victim in any of your roles.
“I grew up with boys. I’m the only girl and I’m the smallest and I’m the last one from my brothers. I grew up and at 3 years old I was riding a horse. So I am very much an out-door type. I know how to be with boys and I like cars. With me I never saw myself limited to be a certain way or to be a certain kind of a girl. If something happens or something breaks I know how to fix it. I know how to fix a car or how to change a tire. Neither my brothers nor father limited me by saying, “No, you are a girl you can’t do this.” They were lije, “No. You do it by yourself. I’m not helping you.”
What last words can you say to Batswana out there?
She said that she would like to thank Batswana for inviting her into their homes beforehand.
“It is very humbling. I am honoured because I know you have the option to change the channel. To choose what you want to see. And choosing to see my projects means the world to me. And I’m very happy for that. To continue seeing someone watching you. It is a psychological thriller. It’s not the normal Telenovella. It’s going to be a little mysterious. It is going to be a little scary. Batswana will be able to see my true love story. My personal love story. You are going to see it unfold on the TV. Because the man who plays my love interest happens to be my real life current boyfriend. And we’ve been together for 3 years. And Batswana will be able to see how that relationship started from day one. And how the scenes became very real.”
But doesn’t it affect her acting in a negative way to be acting opposite her true love interest?
“No. I have a huge respect for fiction. Fiction is what gives me my food. My bread and butter. That’s my career. I respect fiction tremendously. And having a partner that’s equally creative and challenges me as an actress to give more of myself. It’s an honour to have to work with him. To have projects with him because we challenge ourselves to give more and more so I enjoy it.”
