Exclusive: Q&A with ‘White Lies’ star Kiroshan Naidoo

The South African sat down with White Lies star Kiroshan Naidoo in an exclusive interview on his character Edgar Ray in the series at the screening of the show held in Constantia, Cape Town, on 1 March.

KIROSHAN PLAYS EDGAR RAY ON ‘WHITE LIES’

South African actor Kiroshan Naidoo plays the role of journalist Edgar Ray on M-Net’s international co-production White Lies. The series is set in the wealthy neighbourhood of Bishopscourt, Cape Town. The series follows Edie Handsen, played by Natalie Dormer, who digs into the death of her brother.

“Journalist Edie Hansen (Dormer) gets caught up in the Cape’s ugly underworld after her brother is murdered in the wealthy neighbourhood of Bishopscourt in Cape Town’s southern suburbs. Dragged back into her tumultuous childhood, Edie’s investigation soon puts her at loggerheads with veteran detective Forty Bell (Daniels) and forces her to grapple with the crumbling local police force, a corrupt political system and the secretive world of extreme wealth,” reads the synopsis according to M-Net.

Q&A WITH THE ‘WHITE LIES’ STAR

You play a journalist on the show. What was that like for you?

Specifically, this journalist, I find it interesting and important because his voice is the new generation of South Africans. Being brown, post-Apartheid, what is our lens we want in our stories? We would have a different sort of perspective than an older white woman who was in the UK and now is back in South Africa. That lens matters, and I think he feels that it’s important he gets his voice out there because he is part of the changed South Africa. 

Do you think everyone around him gets him?

So, I don’t think everyone gets him. Him being queer, him being brown, I don’t think everyone gets him, but I think he’s afraid of them. It’s fine for him. Having to navigate life – this is my back story that I’ve added to it – it was tough for him to navigate life, so this is just another thing he has to do. 

What do you think viewers can expect from your character?

Viewers can expect the representation of a young, queer, brown man living in South Africa, post-Apartheid and how we navigate life. How we have ambition, how we want to climb and how we have something to say.

How do you think the changes in media in terms of representation mean for South Africa and this series? 

I feel it’s important because young Indian boys, my journey specifically, young, gay Indian boys, can look up and see someone that looks like them, has the same existence as them, and that’s important. So, they know they can exist, and they themselves are okay. There are other people out there who look like then, specifically in the Indian community; you don’t see that type of representation, and we don’t talk about that stuff. 

So, this character being gay, being Indian, shows that this exists in the Indian community. We’re not like we don’t exist in the community.

In this series, there’s no one else who looks like Edgar; there’s no one else who exists like him. So, it adds dynamic to the cast, adds dynamic to the story. It also gives a voice to the story that the show wouldn’t have had without him there. 

What do you think is the importance of his character in the show?

I think he helps drive the story of the family forward because the other journalist is scared to do it. Without him shining a light on it, in his own perspective, I don’t think we would have got certain answers.