Rami Chuene spills the tea in her tell-all interview
The bubbly and outspoken actress Rami Chuene let her fans into her life and career in a tell-all interview with MacG on Thursday.
These are five things we learnt from the interview:
TV and corporate gigs
Rami said the entertainment industry is bigger than TV. She said in some instances TV could be used as a “front” to advertise other hustles, such as hosting events for corporate companies. She said she hopes the current generation of artists will explore the industry more behind the scenes.
She said she was paid around R500,000 for a few days’ work for a corporate gig.
“The entertainment industry is big. It’s ridiculous,” she said.
Regarding the R500,00 gig she said “It wasn’t for one day. It was for a couple of days, four days or so, but there are still rehearsals as well. They pay well, they do pay well,.”
Financial struggles
Rami said she’s gone through a rough patch financially, and at one point considered selling her house. This was not because of a lack of work in the industry, but because of poor financial planning.
“There was a lot of debt we got into when I was married. Sometimes you say you will always be working, which was the case, but sometimes you tend to over-indulge and when you have to pay for stuff, you realise you’re kind of lower than anticipated.”
She warned: “When the banks give you credit, it’s not your money. Stay away from debt.”
On being vocal and ‘The Queen’
She said she never regrets speaking her mind, whether on social media or in the workplace.
“If you through my social media posts, you will see where we did good stuff I don’t only complain, I also applaud. You need to be a balanced person with a sound mind and who knows what is right and what is wrong. Sometimes it works that you’ve said something, but sometimes it won’t work.”
On exiting ‘The Queen’, she said she has no regrets about speaking her mind.
The ‘Harvey Weinsteins’ of the SA industry
Rami said “couch casting” has always been a problem in the SA entertainment industry. She said she knows women who were taken advantage of because they needed to get their big breaks.
Personally, she has never been asked for sexual favours because most people are “scared” of her.
“There has always been a sexual standard that men have set that for you to advance [even in other industries outside entertainment], you need to go through that. What kills everything sometimes is that not all women who ‘slept’ their way to the top were not talented.
“Some of them had to go through that because it was their only door to open and explore their full talent.”
She said she does not judge the women who have been through this because she understands they must have felt powerless in those situations.
Love life
Rami said she’s single. When was asked if she would consider using the dating app Tinder, she said she is not into online hook-ups.
On getting back to the “game,” she said: “You don’t need to date to be in the game. You don’t need to be married.”
On meeting men since her divorce, she said: “The list is endless. I’ve met lots of guys, I meet guys all the time. Some of them pluck up the courage and they speak, and sometimes I just go ‘you, I want, come here’.
