Life is a soap opera, full of drama, twists and turns, and quirky characters you either love or love to loathe. But a soap opera is life, too, and a good way to make a living, even if people do sometimes confuse you with the character you play.
For Bertha Le Roux, the naïve but kind-hearted Emma in the long-running Sewende Laan, it’s time for a whole new act, as she bids farewell to TV’s most famous address and redefines her own character and storyline.
Here, Bertha chats with Ruda about change, new opportunities, love and marriage, and that time her wedding party had to be evacuated because the chillis caught fire.
Transcript:
R: Welcome to the Change Exchange, where our guest today is Bertha le Roux. Most of you will know her as Emma of 7de Laan, but that has changed quite radically, and we’ll talk about that. Welcome.
B: Thank you.
R: When did you know you wanted to be an actress?
B: The first time I think I said to anybody I want to be an actress was when I was in grade 4, standard 2, I think. Ja. And I said to my friend I want to be an actress and she said: “Oh, but what about the kissing?” And I said I am going to be so good, there is going to be a body double for that. That didn’t happen.
R: You knew about body doubles?
B: I knew about body doubles. I don’t know how, but ja, I did. I just loved entertaining people from an early age. From the age of 2 I used to do little ballet concerts for the family and things like that, so it’s just always been in my blood.
R: And did you know it could be a career, that one could make a living out of it?
B: Yes, I think I never really considered anything else. I did consider journalism, I wanted to be a photographer for National Geographic, and my other option was a nursery school teacher. So I always wanted to entertain, so I knew I had to make it work.
R: Can you remember the first time that you were paid to do something as an actress?
B: When I was 2 I got 2 cents [laughs]. No really, the first, first time was as an actress, was with the Little People productions. It was a children’s theatre and we went from school to school… and ja… that was the first time. There were family-based things and school shows, but you don’t really get paid.
R: What’s the difference between working on stage and working in front of a camera?
B: I think the difference is on the camera you get to do it again, where if you fluff a line or anything like that you get a second chance. And there’s also a bit more rehearsal on set, while on stage you rehearse a lot beforehand but when you do it that’s it. I once almost ended a show right at the start by giving the… I said… Instead of saying “yes” I said “no” and I could have ended the whole show, so you have to think on your feet and I think that interaction with the audience is always fun. I really enjoy that.
R: Emma. Can you remember when you got the job?
B: I got the job when I was working… I decided to leave children’s theatre because I couldn’t do auditions while being in the children’s theatre, because all the auditions were in that kind of time of day. So I was working for Chaz Everett, for a corporate. And I went to do the audition and they phoned me while I was at work. I was eating a carrot – I don’t know why I remember that, but I was eating a carrot and they said: “You’ve got the role.” And I said: “I got the role of what?” And they said: “No, no, no. You’re going to play in 7de Laan.” And I was ecstatic. The funny thing was, I just thought at that stage I was too overweight to play on TV, and they actually asked me to put on more weight. So that was quite interesting.
R: Was 7de Laan… did it have the iconic status that it has, even then, 12 years ago?
B: Twelve years ago, 2002, they started in 1999 at the end of it, so it had been going for about two years. We were only showing for three days a week at that stage, so they were eight months ahead in the shooting schedule. So nobody knew… After about five months people said: “So what do you do?” And I was like: “I work at 7de Laan.” And they went: “No you don’t, because we don’t see you.” So they’ve been quite popular, but I think it reached a height about 7 years ago… It reached a height.
R: But even then it sounds as if you had to let go of one thing, the children’s theatre, in order to find this other opportunity. It must have been scary?
B: Yes, it was scary. Luckily for me I did have a place to go in corporate, which was quite flexible, but ja, you have to make a choice. You have to decide: “Okay, for me to advance, I need to let go.”
R: Interesting. How did you cope with the loss of privacy? Because one does lose it, heh?
B: I think the biggest thing that happened to me was I stopped looking people in the eye. I used to walk in the malls and look everyone in the eye and smile at them and be friendly and be open to new people, but I think gradually, very gradually I closed down. I just kind of… because now what happens when I look somebody in the eye and I smile, they come over and they chat. And they chat forever!
R: And they don’t want to chat to Bertha, they want to chat to Emma?
B: Yes, they don’t want to speak to me, they want to speak to Emma. It’s not a… So that’s the biggest thing that changed in me. I remember the first time people kind of barged in on a meal with me and Karel, and I was like: “But I’ve got food in my mouth! I’m eating!” And I couldn’t believe that kind of behaviour, that people just come up to you and they expect that you would let everything go, be available to them. But you learn that it’s necessary. You learn that by doing that, by giving them that little amount of time, you can make their day. And how easy is that? So that’s cool.
R: When you got the role, did you understand the impact it was going to have on your life?
B: I don’t think so. My role, the first contract was for two weeks, so I thought it was going to be in and out and I was going to be the typical drama student – I won’t do soaps. If I do a soap I will do it for three months and then I will go, you know. But life gets in the way. And reality sets in, and if you get a work in a soap in our industry, go for it. So I didn’t really…
R: There’s a salary check every month!
B: Exactly! There’s the stability of it. There you know where your check is coming from every month. I think also what I didn’t realise, I didn’t realise what an effect the character Emma was going to have in my life as a…
R: What do you mean?
B: I think thank goodness, she’s a lovely character. She’s a lovely, friendly person who puts her foot in so many messes, it’s not even funny. I think just learned from her that you learn from your messes and learn from everything, otherwise it’s going to happen again! She didn’t. The end of her story is her demise for not listening. Rick is the character who kind of put her life in the most jeopardy. He tried to burn her alive. Then he goes to jail and he goes to ‘groendakkies’ – a mental institution. And then he comes back and she marries him! Then he abducts her child and he… And then she goes: “Ag, it’s oukei.” And then he goes to the mental institution again and he comes back again and she goes: “Ag, of course I’ll take you back!” And the fourth time she has learned her lesson, and she wants to get rid of him, and unfortunately it ended in disaster. She shot him. So there’s a little bit of soap loving for you! But ja, I learned that you need to learn from your faults and your little messy mud that you make in your life. You’ve got to learn from it, ja.
R: I think the audience doesn’t have a clue about the discipline that goes into producing half an hour a day.
B: Ja, it’s five days a week, and we work from 7:30 in the morning until 7:30 at night. And when you get home at night… Sometimes I get home early. Most of the days I got home at about 6:00, 6:30. And then you get home and you take care of your kids and then you have to learn lines again. So work doesn’t really leave you. Especially if you’re in a storyline. You’re constantly thinking of ‘where I should place this scene so that that scene doesn’t feel disjointed’. “How should I cry in this one so that I don’t cry too much in that one, and I did of lot of that… crying. So ja, you never really leave work, so it is kind of a discipline and we… at 7de Laan they’re very strict about words. You have to say the exact words script wise, like it’s in the script, or they cut, and you have to do it again. So people don’t like that when they cut.
R: And then suddenly, to your fans’ great shock and horror you said you were leaving.
B: Yes, after 12 and a half years I thought that Emma has gone through all the drama and dilemmas that she could go through, first of all, but my biggest thing about that was that I wanted to spend more time with my children. And I wanted to do something else as well. I didn’t want to look back on my life and think it’s quite an achievement to play Emma in 7de Laan for… but I didn’t want that to be the only thing. And I wanted to develop and put myself out there again and ja… Like I said, you have to leave something behind to make space for the new.
R: Do you know what the new will be?
B: Yes, at the moment I’m doing auditions and I want to do movies, and I’m open for theatre and all of that. But my biggest project is a project called Godlietjies. God songs. And it started with my children. I love gospel, and my kids love singing it and my youngest daughter would get into the car and she would say: “Godlietjies, mamma, Godliedjies!” “God songs, mommy, god songs!” So I got tired of listening to the same CD and the same guys and so on, and then I thought there must be a product out there. And there must be space out there to play new songs. And it just grabbed hold of me and I just went from there, and I spoke to Jennis and Jacey at Life in a Bulb, and we all just got together and made the project and in the end it turned out to be such a big emotional thing for me, to start it, and spiritually.
R: Can you sing?
B: Yes, I can sing. That’s the first thing people ask me. Ja I think that’s one of the talents that God has given me, is that I just kind of put underneath a bucket. I sing to my children a lot, and I’ve sung here and there and in shows, but mostly people are surprised by that. I can sing – I’m no Celine Dion or anything like that, but I can hold a note.
R: And how far is the project?
B: The project is at the moment I’m doing shows at schools or churches, bazaars, birthday parties, wherever you want me I will come and do a show.
R: And are you finding a market?
B: I am finding a market, very slowly, but surely. And people are kind of they don’t understand it quite yet…
R: Because they see you in a different role?
B: I think that might be. But I’ve always been very open about my family life, I have always been very open about me being a mother and loving my kids and being a God-fearing woman. So I think that’s not the transition that they… they just go: “I can get her in real life?”
R: Out of the box.
B: Out of the box. She’s actually going to hear when I speak to her, you know. So I think that’s maybe the transition that people are finding difficult, but ag, it’s also… It’s marketing. It’s a different field to go into. Next year (2015) we’ll make a DVD. My shows are like a Wielie Walie for Jesus. We do a story from the bible. We’ve got a book that you have to open with a song, we do a craft and we sing a beautiful, original song. So it’s a beautiful… I mean, two of the songs were written by my daughter Kiana.
R: But Kiana’s what?
B: She’s seven. She comes in and says: “Mommy, mommy, listen to this!” And then she sings and then I go: “Okay, let me just refine it a little bit and put it into more of a rhythm and there we go!” I’m having a ball. I’m having a ball doing all of this and ja, we’re doing a Christmas show very soon and ja, it’s fun.
R: How did having the two girls… how did that change you?
B: It gave me a lot more patience. Any mother will tell you that the moment that baby comes into your arms, and you realise that they don’t do anything that you want them to do immediately, it teaches you patience. And it’s taken my perspective of life to a different level. I think having a child or children in your life, you just realise what life is about for you in this stage of my life. Before the children were there, it’s more career orientated, it’s more friends, it’s about you. And then when baby comes you just kind of flow over to the next level which is more about family and about creating something that will last a lifetime. It’s not a fleeting moment… it’s… So it’s quite a big difference, in life, that takes place when you have a baby.
R: When you were pregnant with Bione, the scriptwriters actually made Emma pregnant as well. How did Emma and Bertha’s experience of the pregnancy differ?
B: Well I think my realisation that I was pregnant was like: “Yay!” Emma’s was more like: “Whoah!” Because she wasn’t married. And so the father of the baby was not even in the picture at that stage, so of course she went through a lot of turmoil that an unmarried mother would go through. “Should I keep the baby?” And her mother told her not to keep the baby, and that was quite bad for my mother, in real life. Because people would come up and say: “How could you tell your daughter not to keep her baby?” So it was a bit of a problem.
R: Was it hard to play those lines? To actually say: “I’m thinking of not keeping this baby?”
B: She was angry at her mother for telling her to… ja. So that was kind of… especially when you’re pregnant and you don’t want to carry on too many bad emotions to your baby, so I especially… when I was pregnant with Kiana, it wasn’t written into the storyline and I had a very traumatic exit. I was stalked by a guy and I was scared and I had to run and blah blah blah. But between every take I would just kind of calm baby and say: “This is mommy’s work, and understand.” And that’s the best you can do. That’s the best you can do for your child, ever. I think the differences between me and Emma with our pregnancies were quite big, and but we both had a happy ending, so that’s great. I literally worked until a week before Bione was born. She came early.
R: Is there something you wish you had known before you had children? Would it have made a difference?
B: I don’t think so. No. It was just a natural process. It was just wonderful to be there, I think… I can’t even say it costs so much money. I think no. I am exactly where I thought I would be – with two children, ja.
R: Having spoken about children, let’s speak about their dad. How did you meet Karel and when did you decide that he was the man for you?
B: I met him when I was in standard 9 and he was in standard 8. So he was a year younger than me – it’s always good to have a little toy boy. And we were on a church hiking trail, and we met, we liked each other but he thought I was kind of out of his league and I thought he was out of my league and we weren’t in the same school, so I mean, things just didn’t work out. And then a lot of years later, after I finished studying, our roads crossed quite a few times. But after I finished studying I was on my way to London and I thought: “Okay…”
R: To work?
B: To spend time there and get theatre experience, to go for the passion and all of that. So that was the idea. And then I literally drove past Karel, in the road, and I was like: “Oh, wait a minute!” And I drove past his house and thought I should go in. And to make a long story short, we became friends and after I just realised that if he doesn’t call me, I get irritated. I don’t know why. And then I realised I haven’t spoken to him today and I just really wanted him in my life. And it’s even before we started dating, then I just knew he’s the guy. He’s the one. That was quite cool.
R: If you think of your wedding day, what’s the most memorable moment?
B: I think when I walked down the aisle, I started crying. And my dad was like: “Are you okay? You can back out any moment?” It was the best! But I was crying because it was such a beautiful moment. It was such a wonderful… And as the videographer kind-of cleared the way, I just broke down in these heaves of joy. And that was one of the memorable moments for me. And the other one was of course the incident with the chillies. We had dried chillies in our flower arrangements on the tables, and one of the candles burned down into the chillies, and what do you make teargas from? Chillies. So we were talking and [coughing sounds] and someone realised it was the chillies. And they said: “Oh, blow out the candles! Blow out the candles, it’s the chillies!” And it actually worked out for the better. It was a disaster. Everyone was blowing out the candles and running outside and hanging out the windows and stuff like that, but in the end all the adults – let me put it that way – the older people took their chairs and sat outside. And we cleared the air inside and we could dance and have like loud music and so on. It was a lovely evening! I think Karel’s grandfather stayed until 11, which was quite a late hour for him. At that stage he was 70. And that was a memorable moment. Something bad happened, but it turned out to be so good.
R: And when you started sharing the space, living in your own space. That can be quite tricky. Do you close the toothpaste? Do you pick up your underwear?
B: Pack up! That’s still a problem. I think it’s a big adjustment for anybody to start living together, and what Karel did was he had the two week rule. If something is bothering me and I don’t tell him within two weeks, then: Bam! “Sorry, you can’t bring it up again.” Because I’ve got the memory of an elephant and he doesn’t. So I used to fight and go: “Ja, but five months ago you said this and this and this and that really upset me.” And then he would go: “But why didn’t you tell me at the time?” So I think the best advice from his side and from our side now is to do that. When something bothers you, tell your spouse immediately, because then you don’t build up emotions. It doesn’t fester, it doesn’t build like a champagne bottle that’s just going to explode. So I think that was the biggest thing. We fought the most about the rule, because I would go: “Ja, five months!” And he would say: “No, I’m not going into that. It’s more than two weeks.” Now it’s easier for me now. It took time to get into that whole thing. To decide who sleeps on what side of the bed. It’s quite a thing. No, he said: “No, I’ve got to protect you, so I’m sleeping on the door’s side.” And then we stayed in a house where we had a door on the one side and now we’re sleeping in a room with a big, huge sliding door in front of us, so I’m like: “What now?” But we’re used to the sides we’re sleeping on now.
R: Does it bother him to share you with fans?
B: He still doesn’t quite really know how to handle it. He just smiles and gets quite shy, but when it gets too long he would come and say: “Listen, Kiana needs you.” Or “we still need to go a long way”. He does protect me in that kind of way that he makes sure I don’t go crazy.
R: My husband and I both travel, but very early on we decided we would never try and be at the other one’s side all the time. It’s impossible. So we don’t travel together that much, and there was one famous day at the airport, where we were going away on holiday it was a lovely day and I was feeling so good and I could have hugged him and I said… we’re standing in the queue, somewhere… and I said: “I so love travelling with you!” And out of thought it came out: “I hate travelling with you!” Because of that! Because of everyone staring. People constantly… the attention is constantly there. It’s difficult for the people close to you.
B: It is. I think it’s because along the way somewhere I have developed blinders. I don’t see people staring anymore. I don’t hear people whispering anymore. I am oblivious to things like that. But Karel isn’t because he’s not… he doesn’t live it every day. And the kids aren’t. My kids don’t watch 7de Laan so they don’t know who this Emma is. So that’s quite funny, it’s like: “Mommy, you’re on TV!” And I go: “Ja, ja, ja.”
R: Was that a conscious decision?
B: Ja, I think it was. There’s so much 7de Laan going on in my everyday life, every day I read the script, I watch the recordings and then I would watch playback and I think we just got to a stage where we didn’t watch 7de Laan anymore. And also Emma cried a lot. So one or two times that we did have the TV on 7de Laan, when my mom comes to visit, then Kiana would go: “Why are you crying? Oh mommy, don’t cry!” And my youngest is coming with tissues and stuff and I would go: “I’m not crying now, it’s just… mommy’s work.” And it’s still a bit difficult for them to understand. So I think it’s a conscious decision to not let them… they’re a big part of Godliedjies – that was a conscious decision for me. Then I can take them with to shows and they can be part of everything.
R: How does one… how do you and Karel make time to be together? Because he also had a job? He’s an art dealer? And that’s not a nine to five job, so how do you find time?
B: Well, on Sundays we would try… because he works weekends as well. Luckily only until 4:00, so that helps a lot. So we would go to the gallery. Especially after church on Sundays we would go there and spend time with him until the clients come in and people are very friendly. It’s a kid friendly environment to be in, so we would just sit there and the kids can run around and be with each other and…
R: But it’s also something you have to concentrate on? You have to make a choice?
B: You have to make a choice and you have to make a decision to do that. And also I told him that you can’t work seven days a week. That’s not right. So on Tuesdays he’s off. So now on Tuesdays, if I don’t have anything to do during the day, then we would spend some time together and ag, maybe help clean the pool… Do what other people do on Saturday.
R: Tell me about your home? How long have you lived there?
B: I’ve lived in my house… We’ve lived there for five years now. It used to be my parents’ house.
R: So you grew up there?
B: No, I grew up in Florida, but this one is in Constantia Kloof. We moved there in my matric year, so I remember… maybe my standard nine year, I can’t remember. But ja, at the end of my growing up things. We moved in there five years ago because my parents decided they want to go… live in Cape Town in Saldanhabaai. They have a house there as well, and ja, I said: “Well, can we rent your home?” And they said: “That would be perfect.” And we rented the home, and three years ago when my father passed away I inherited the house. So now we’ve got this beautiful house. It’s on the hill – it has the most splendid view. It’s gorgeous. So we love it.
R: Is that what you like most about it? The view? Or what makes it yours?
B: I think that’s what makes it so special – is the view of it. But it’s also the house is big, and the rooms are big and roomy and high ceilings. And we kind of, after my parents moved out we went in with a paintbrush, because they had white walls. And we were itching to have a room that’s big enough so we can paint it. So we got a red-brown sitting room, we’ve got an orange dining room, we’ve got a grey kitchen that only came later, and we’ve got a blue room for the kids – which is their play room. And we also have a pink and green room for them. So we just love it. I think my taste is kind of eclectic. It’s kind of a little bit of Africa, mixed with a little bit of art and especially now that Karel has got this job as an art dealer, we’re getting a lot of paintings. We once had to keep a painting for someone in our bedroom, and it was nice because it was this beautiful painting and we eventually sold it from our wall. And then we got a new one… Ag, it’s an evolving project to get your house to where you want it. The biggest project that we did was Karel decided he wants a new kitchen. En dan sê hy he wants a new kitchen because he’s the cook in the house. Because he loves to cook and he decided to do it himself. So we took out a wall here and we took out the island and ag it was just…
R: Is he a good handyman? Is he good with his hands?
B: He wasn’t, but he is now! He got a guy in to help him – Nelson helped him a lot. But ja, we’re… what was the other guy’s name? It was a few years ago. Oh ja. Fortune. Fortune cost us a fortune, but he helped Karel too. He learned how to put the stuff on the wall and that was quite a big experiment. And fun! It’s still not finished, but is anything ever finished?
R: You also started another venture, a few years ago when you were talking about Africa.
B: Yes, ja.
R: Children’s clothing in African fabrics?
B: I love Thitinga material. I think it’s beautiful and it’s very African and it’s very usable because it’s cotton. So my mother has this project in Zambia, that she started about ten years ago that she goes in and she trains ladies. She teaches them how to sew. And the project also provides them with sewing machines and so on and so on. And the project’s name is “Share your knowledge”. So they have to go out and then teach someone else and so on and so on. And there was so much success with that, she’s still doing it today. She’s 71 years old, and I’m so proud of her. And at that stage I was looking for something that I can start, and I loved to have babies. So your life takes you in a direction and I thought: Baby clothes! And that was just… and these ladies are the perfect ladies to make it. And so it started off and it went quite well, but then I had to go back after my maternity leave and unfortunately the business wasn’t at that stage where I could make a living from it. So it wasn’t strong enough at that stage. So I think what I learned from there is that you need time to go see the suppliers and to go see everyone. There’s no way of juggling two jobs like that. So that’s what I learned from there, and that’s why I decided to leave 7de Laan this time, to make Godliedjies work. So ja, we will have a Christmas of crackers and end of the month… what do you call that? But it will be lovely. And my business will grow next year, so it’s going to be great.
R: Good luck! I hope it takes off and that next year is the beginning of… what do you call it? Bertha’s Godliedjies?
B: Just Godliedjies. And we also do it in English – God Songs. But the trademark is Godliedjies and so it’s just fun. I’ve got a few bookings for next year. I think it will kick off. And oh… I didn’t tell you we’re making a DVD next year! So that will also be available to buy, and then maybe go ahead and do a TV show and grow, grow, grow. Get the word out there. Ja.
R: All of the very, very best and thank you for visiting with us.
B: Thank you for having me.
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