Jessica opens up on motherhood and her return to acting
Jessica Nkosi is preparing for her highly anticipated return to acting after over a year hiatus.
Since exiting The Queen on Mzansi Magic, she has been busy with brand partnerships and ambassadorial work, including her collaboration with Volvo.
In an interview with TshisaLIVE, Jessica revealed that she deliberately took a step back from acting to focus on her children.
“God is so good that I can have other streams of income. While I am not on your screens, there’s other work that I can do because I can still work with brands. I’m really appreciative of that because I love doing that as well,” she shared.
She attributes her success in the influencer space to her dedication to maintaining a strong personal brand.
“I worked hard to be attractive to brands. The way you carry yourself, the way you are—brands are attracted to that. While I am not acting, which is something that takes me away from my children, I love that I can do something where I am present as a mother and a wife.”
Although she has enjoyed her time focusing on motherhood, Jessica admits that acting remains her true passion. To prepare for her comeback, she has been undergoing acting coaching to refine her craft.
“I feel like acting was my therapy. It’s nice to just get out of Jessica Nkosi and dive into somebody else’s body and be obsessed with their lives. I enjoyed that. I studied acting, so it’s where my comfort is. It’s in remembering the exercises I do before I’d start acting, before each scene … and I felt like I needed to get back into that. It’s like I am back to school.”
Her decision to step away from acting allowed her to be more present as a mother, something she hadn’t fully experienced before.
“I don’t think motherhood has changed me much. With my first child, I was at work. I gave birth and in two months I was [back] on set. But with my son, I was just like, it would be nice if I was a bit more present, so I intentionally made the decision to not work.”
Now, with her children settled, Jessica is ready to step back into the acting world.
“I left the show I was on [The Queen] to focus on my kids. I had never experienced school drop-offs before. Now it’s something I do on a regular basis. It’s been a year-and-a-half. It’s exciting to get back, but I have also been enjoying being a mom. But I’m an actor and the bug will always live inside me. I will be back soon.”
