Sandton princess hits the small screen

TALI FEINBERG

Meet Tali, the star of Tali’s Wedding Diary, a new “mockumentary” following her adventures as she plans her wedding to property-agent Darren. If she looks familiar, that’s because she, Tali, is actually Julia Anastasopoulos – known for her popular Suzelle DIY persona and who is now giving South Africa the treat of laughing at another one of her home-grown alter-egos.

Both Suzelle and Tali are the creations of Julia and her business partner and husband Ari Kruger, which they produce through their company Sketchbook Studios.

The pair clearly has a sense for these things, as Suzelle was a runaway success and Tali’s Wedding Diary was scooped up by Showmax, a local video streaming on-demand service, and this is Showmax’s first original show.

As someone with her character’s namesake, my first question to Julia in a telephone interview is why she chose this rather unusual Hebrew name for her character. In my experience, South Africans struggle to say it and spell it!

“I have to agree!” laughs Julia. “I’ve always loved the name – the sound and feel of it – but in hindsight it has been difficult to ‘market’ it. People can’t say it! But I still feel it is the perfect name for the character.”

Julia doesn’t actually recall how Tali came about: “She’s been in my mind for a long time,” she explains. “I’ve always had an affiliation for fun, flavourful South African characters.”

Tali is a challenge in that she is the person we “love to hate”- spoiled, self-obsessed and clueless, yet Julia also hopes to convey that she is also insecure, vulnerable and has her heart in the right place.

“I think the best comedy is character-based, but I also want to make her nuanced,” explains Julia.

As for the subject of the show, it may be a case of art imitating life, as Julia and Ari recently planned their own wedding. Like anyone who has ever planned a simcha, they encountered so many hilarious situations along the way, that it was easy to translate their experiences into comedy.

And how have South Africans reacted to Tali?

“People from all walks of life say they ‘know a Tali’,” says Julia. Yes, she may represent a stereotype, but it is done in a way that is light-hearted and loveable. “She is relatable, and we need to be able to laugh at ourselves, as we saw with Suzelle. South Africans are good at this, and we need to look at our flaws and laugh at them,” says Julia.

Tali is the caricature of a King David kugel, and Julia has her accent down to a T. “It is a hybrid accent of what I heard growing up in Johannesburg and what I hear in Cape Town a lot,” she explains.

While she makes her comedy moments look effortless, Julia is a trained actress – she studied theatre and performance at the University of Cape Town and has explored all genres. While she feels comedy is definitely her niche, she hopes she won’t be pigeonholed and will do other acting work in future.

On a scale of 1-10, working with Showmax is “10 and beyond – a dream come true!” exclaims Julia. “It’s so hard to get things made here, especially as a young small company like Sketchbook Studios, and Showmax gave us massive resources and support.

“They really want to develop clever, excellent local content. We really hit it off – they saw our vision, gave us creative freedom and basically said ‘do it the best way you know how’!”

So, what does Tali do all day? The Instagram account “tali_babes” gives hilarious sneak peeks into her princess lifestyle, deep thoughts and chats with followers (always ending with “I love u guys!” and a kiss on the screen).

“Generally, she just has a hard day filled with appointments,” laughs Julia. But now that she has a wedding to plan, she will be a lot busier, and the material is endless. Family politics, venue drama and much more are on the menu. The team worked hard to create a “real wedding”, and it will include Jewish aspects, such as a very funny rabbi.

Tali’s Wedding Diary was filmed over a couple of weeks in a very cold Cape Town. “It was freezing and raining, I never thought I could be so cold,” says Julia.“But the City of Cape Town was so accommodating – they really support film and TV productions.

“We wanted it to feel very real and relatable, so we took Tali to typical Cape Town spots, which she constantly complains about (‘I hate the seagulls!’ ’The weather is unpredictable!’) but which shows the city at its best. And with Showmax reaching international shores, that can only be good for Cape Town.

Julia’s husband, Ari, has gone from being a 3D animator to directing commercials and films that have won awards overseas. Yet the two have found that inspiration is easiest found at home, and it has definitely been a recipe for success. 

Whether Tali makes you cringe or laugh, she will show you the funny side of life – and if you love laughing at yourself, or those in your midst, then watch out for tali_babes! 

‘Tali’s Wedding Diary’ will premiere on Showmax in December. It will be an eight-part series and each episode will be approximately 20 minutes long.