Scottish actor Dougray Scott plays the villain in Invisible, a new South African series based on a Deon Meyer novel. The eight-part show starts on M-Net (DStv 101) on 14 October at 20:00.
Scott, known for films like Ever After and Mission: Impossible 2, plays a man called Quintus Wernich. The series is based on Meyer’s 2007 novel Onsigbaar, which was published in English as Blood Safari.
“It was a brilliant experience, and the director, [Jozua Malherbe], was fantastic,” Scott told News24. He also praised the rest of the cast.
The story follows Emma le Roux, a PR consultant who lives in London. She comes back to South Africa after a call from her long-lost brother.
She is soon pulled into a dangerous world of poaching and political corruption. The plot also involves the mysterious death of a Mozambican presidential candidate.
The cast includes Abbie Cornish, Tim Theron, Tumisho Masha, Kim Engelbrecht, Frank Rautenbach, Chi Mende and Siv Ngesi.
Scott said he had a “terrific time” filming in South Africa. He has worked in the country before on the films Tiger House and Death Race 3: Inferno. He also filmed the TV shows Strike Back and Soldier Soldier here.
He said he now looks forward to the food, the weather and the friendly people when he visits.
“I came here (to South Africa) at the end of apartheid, 32 years ago. To see a country evolve, change and grow … and to see where it is now, is great,” he said.
Scott said he was “a huge fan” of Nelson Mandela. He called Mandela “one of the greatest leaders that any country has ever had”.
The series and the novel draw on real events. These include the 1986 plane crash that killed former Mozambican president Samora Machel.
Scott described Quintus as “someone who’s learned to be very comfortable in the darkness”. He said the character “works in a nefarious environment”.
To get ready for the role, Scott watched several documentaries. One was about British mercenary Simon Mann. In 2004, Mann led 64 mercenaries, mostly South Africans, in a plot to overthrow the president of Equatorial Guinea.
“I kind of saw [Mann] as being slightly like Quintus in some respects,” Scott said.
Scott had never read a Meyer book before he joined the cast, but his sister is a big fan. He read Blood Safari for the role and liked the writing. “[Deon Meyer] is obviously a national treasure and he writes brilliant thrillers,” he said.
Meyer said he never thinks about screen versions while writing a novel. His other books on screen include Heart of the Hunter, Devil’s Peak and Trackers.
“Writing a novel is hard enough to get right, so when you start thinking about adaptations and life after the novel, then I think you’re going to get it wrong,” he said.
Meyer said he was “incredibly proud” of Invisible. He sees the book and the series as “two different entities”. He wrote the series with Amy Jephta.
Meyer got the idea for Blood Safari after riding a motorcycle through the Lowveld for more than a week. “I remember driving all the way back from Hoedspruit to Stellenbosch on the motorcycle and the story forming in my head,” he told News24 earlier.
Invisible premieres on M-Net (DStv 101) on 14 October at 20:00.
Source: this article is based on reporting by news24.com. Image: news24.com. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Entertainment desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Rirhandzu Baloyi writes about entertainment for Tzaneen Voice. Rirhandzu covers South African music, film, TV, streaming, awards and celebrity news, from amapiano and local soapies to Showmax and Netflix releases. Stories stick to what happened, who was involved and when fans can watch or listen.