For far too long women have been undermined and overlooked, but that time is over – women are the future.

In celebrating women’s month, Nounouche Magazine has decided to shine a light on young South African women that are doing well in their respective fields and breakout star Rosemary Zimu, who won Mzansi’s heart with her stellar performance in Netflix’s drama series Savage, is one of them.

The young actress continues to be booked and busy, proving that she is a force to be reckoned with as she has scored herself another major TV role – she has joined Magic’s TV show Ayeye: Stripped as Zoleka.

Rosemary told Nounouche that she was over the moon when she was called to be part of the show and it is an absolute honour for her to be working on a project of such magnitude.

“When I got the call that I got the job I was very excited and frightened at the same time,” she said.

“If I may be honest with you, Ayeye is one of the productions that made me fall in love with the craft of acting I was very young when it first came out and I remember telling my sibling that one day, should there be another season, I will be a part of it, not knowing I was actually speaking things into existence.”

Speaking about portraying her role on the much-anticipated show, Rosemary shared that stepping into Zoleka’s shoes has been an interesting journey for her.

“In my entire acting career I don’t really think I have done a character like her, so there was a lot of research that had to be done as I had to speak to a lot of ladies that have been in a similar situation as her so that I can portray her the best way that I can, in a way that won’t make the women who have been in her situation feel offended,” she said.

Rosemary also shared that while portraying Zoleka there were scenes that she was uncomfortable with, but she quickly remembered that this is not about her.

“But overall she is an amazing person and a lot of people at home are going to connect easily with her,” she told Nounouche.

Rosemary further revealed that she shot Ayeye when Savage Beauty premiered and she ended up finding herself under a lot of pressure because her performance on Savage Beauty was outstanding and she wanted to live up to it.

This year, women’s month is celebrated under the theme ‘Women’s socio-economic rights and empowerment: building back better for women’s resilience’ which is being used to achieve gender equality by the end of 2030.  

When asked if enough is being done to appreciate and include women in the entertainment space, Rosemary said not enough is being done.

“But there are small things that are being done that are opening our eyes that by the year 2030 we might not be where we want to be but there will be some level of growth.”

“And we as women we should continue putting ourselves out there to show people that we can and lately we have been doing that and I love that about ourselves,” she said.