Windeck and Jikulumessu became famed for being the first African telenovelas to receive Emmy nominations. Written by popular multilingual artist, Coréon Dú, the novelas were the most dynamic and refreshing titles anyone could have talked about...

Thus, we were very excited when we got a chance to speak to Celso Roberto, who has played stellar roles in both novelas.
Celso gave us his time and was able to share what the journey has been like, and also his own personal ambitions as well...

TABA: Describe Celso Roberto to us...

Celso: Celso! A young man of 43 years. I was born in the Cubal Municipality of the province of Benguela, South of Angola. I have four children and I consider myself a likeable person. I am supportive to those who are my friends, and very eager to help those who need me when I can.

TABA: How did you get into acting?

Celso: Before acting, I was a DJ, up until the opportunity to become a model presented itself in 1999. In 2000, I played a role in a mini series called Vidas Ocultas and then another one called Revira Volta. I slacked a bit on deejaying because of my love for acting.
The chance to play Kiluanji in Windeck came four years after the last novela at the time with the title Doce Pitanga in which I played the role of a teacher of physical education.
Windeck has been the biggest telenovela produced in Angola and the one that gave me much more visibility. Both in my country and in the world. Today I am known to you thanks to Windeck. A work in which I gave everything of myself, so that it became a personality notable and liked by the public.



TABA: In Windeck, your character, Kiluanji Voss, is a member of the supposedly distinct but seemingly dysfunctional Voss family. What was your opinion of the script when you first saw it?

Celso: When I saw the script for the first time, I was in love. Because we were telling a little of our history in a contemporary setting. Where we can discuss various topics such as excessive ambition, disagreements within homes, homosexuality - a subject that people are afraid to talk about, domestic violence... all these subjects within the novela, caused me to gyrate and accept to play the lead  male role in Windeck.

TABA: What were the challenges that emerged from working on Windeck?

Celso: There were many challenges. For example, I am a very anxious person. And fighting anxiety was a challenge. Anxiety messes up a lot in many things and mainly in the shooting of the scenes. Sleeping late and getting up early. Decorating and preparing the sets. We sometimes had to shoot 20 to 30 scenes a day and that was difficult because Kiluanji had many lines and participated in 99.9% of the novel. What was a huge challenge in capturing all the scenes was to record them right in the first shooting and fight hard to make very little mistakes, in order to comply with the daily plan. But we had to face all challenges so that what you watched was perfect!

TABA: That is true and very positive, coming from a very demanding novela. Now the style that was used in the telenovela was very intriguing. What was the inspiration for the Ankara themed clothes that Kiluanji wore because I remember people loving him in the Ankara clothes...

Celso: I do not know much about picking Kiluanji's wardrobe. But I also loved the blend of African fabrics by Western standards. This served in a way to also give the world a little of our style in Africa. Showing that it is possible to make these blends work and look beautiful. The stylist thought to create African-ism within Western-ism. I think it worked.







TABA: Tell us a bit about working with the cast: most especially Nadia Silva and Micaela Reis

Celso: It was the first time I worked with them. And look I did not know them until they unveiled the entire cast. It was great to have known them worked with them. They are now on my list of few friends. We gained a strong friendship. Nadia and Micaela are very talented actresses with very strong potential. They are very generous. Working with them was a huge pleasure for me. I could also learn a lot from them. I did not know them, but even then we worked as if we had already worked together many times. And during the work we got to know each other more and more and today we are very good friends.



TABA: Wonderful! So the success of Windeck has been very great and how did you feel when you heard that the novela had been nominated for the International Emmy for Best Telenovela?

Celso: There was no way I could not be happy. But it is hard to describe what it feels like when a job is recognized. Now being named myself ??????? (laughs). That was not in my head. But that made us very happy and gratified, because we were competing with monsters of theatrical drama in the world. We were the little ones in that way. But being named in the Emmys, this gives a big boost to the ego but increases the level of responsibility as well.

TABA: I can only imagine what it was like to feel like that considering Angola was not really a theatrical giant before Windeck came to the table

Semba Comunicaçao also produced another Emmy-nominated novela called "Jikulumessu", which was also a hit in the English and French territories. What did you enjoy about playing Bruno in the novela?

Celso: Playing Bruno, it was good,  and not because it's my job to play the role, but because of the fact that with Bruno I undressed totally from Kiluanji. Bruno is a very different from Kiluanji. He's a young, poor mechanic. He represents the majority of many Angolans. A very humble, playful being well disposed and loving cars. He was a character that I could also learn a lot from.



TABA: And I'm guessing this is what acting should be like,  right? Learning something from the characters we play ....

Celso: For sure. A character is someone's idea. Someone who thinks the same or different from us and who always wants to tell us something. Hence we always learn from the characters

TABA: Well said. Can we expect other telenovelas from Angola?

Celso: For sure. We are working towards this. We are not yet a telenovelas or entertainment industry, but yes. We are preparing two more novelas - with thoroughness because we can not break the line nor the quality

TABA: I really hope to see them soon because we wondered what happened to Semba after Windeck and Jikulumessu
Meanwhile, have you plunged into other projects?

Celso: Semba continues to work and as we said we are producing two more novels. I am also very interested in internationalizing my career. I have participated in some Portuguese novelas and I am in the fight to get also to Mexico, Brazil and maybe even cinema in the United States. These are dreams to be achieved and I'm running after those dreams. If God give me a long life and health, who knows? Because I always say that nothing is done in our time, but in the time of God. Only he knows the things we do not know. Of the things that are to come

TABA: Yes! Very true!
It would be nice to see you in Brazil, working with houses like Globo, whose novelas I personally adore ...
Which novelas are those you participated in outside of Angola?

Celso: In Mara - The Only One, I played a neighborhood bandit while in The Pretender ,  I played the role of a young African man within a little revolt. And I'm hoping to sign another contract for some work with both SIC and TVI. But as I said it is all in the time that God allows.

TABA: I believe that The One Woman has already crossed the African Islands dubbed in English because I have seen that it is being prepared for Ghana, but we are not yet as lucky here in Kenya, but again, as you said, time ....