We chat to Brighton Ngoma who plays Quinton on Scandal!
28-year-old Brighton comes from a family of theatre performers and never had dreams of entering the industry. “I hated the idea of acting. I didn’t understand why anyone would willingly humiliate themselves on a stage in front of a crowd of people.”
But the industry chose him when Fiona Ramsay, the Scandal! casting director, offered him a small role. “The role wasn’t demanding at all. I had absolutely no dialogue and hardly any screen-time.” Fast-forward five years, and lots have changed, “the producers and directors liked my personality and gave me the opportunity to try my hand at acting. I was terrible. The role grew as I got better.”
Brighton plays the easy-going, fun and charismatic Quinton Majola on Scandal! His character started as a bartender before becoming a manager at one of the best cocktail lounges in town. As Brighton grew as an actor, so did his character’s storyline. Quinton recently met his biological parents, Layla and Cain, and just last week he learned he is a Nyathi!
We chat to Brighton about his character.
Tell us about Quinton.
Quinton Majola comes from a difficult background filled with lies and deceit. His biological parents abandoned him at a very young age and he was raised by his grandparents’ domestic worker, Mrs Majola. Having accepted the mystery of his existence, he goes about life the only way he knows how – with a strong backbone and a good sense of humour. Life then makes an unexpected turn when his real mother shows up to contest the will of her recently deceased father. In a domino-effect of occurrences, he learns about his mom, his dad and the real reason why he was abandoned.
Quinton is a fun and charming character, are there any similarities between you and him?
The more I got to know the producers and writers at Scandal!, the more they got to understand me as a person and character, so it wasn’t hard for them to put together a suitable character-bible which is largely based on my own life. So yes, I am Quinton and Quinton is me.
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What do you enjoy about playing the character?
I enjoy playing Quinton because his story is similar to mine, so maybe it’s helping me overcome my own resentments and insecurities about my own life. Also, he's just so cool...
Quinton recently met his mother and he finds out he has a father. How does he deal with all these new developments?
As with any situation where a child meets their parents for the first time, it’s very emotional and confusing. He goes through a rollercoaster of moral dilemmas, anger and hurt.
How does he feel about being a Nyathi?
Being a Nyathi is a shock. Not only does he share a surname with a family that has its own drama, but he has to accept that he is now biologically linked to the man that caused him to grow up fatherless.
Will he resent Daniel for stealing his father’s life?
He will always resent Daniel for that. That’s a scar that will always be a reminder about what Daniel did.
What can we expect from Quinton in the next few months?
Quinton steps up to challenge the powers that be. Coming soon to a theatre near you…Boom!
Tune into Scandal! Monday to Thursday at 7:30PM.
