South African actor, comedian, filmmaker and writer Kagiso Lediga is a voice actor in Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” as the young Rafiki.
Lediga not only masters the voice of the iconic character Rafiki but also masters singing something he didn't think he could do after years of being told he couldn’t sing.
The legendary comedian lends his voice to “We Go Together” alongside Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Tiffany Boone and Preston Nyman.
For his big performance, Lediga enlisted the assistance of South African award-winning vocalist, songwriter, composer, vocal coach, musical director and producer RJ Benjamin.
Kagiso Lediga at the South African Premiere of Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King. #MufasaTheLionKing #MufasaZA pic.twitter.com/enHPaP1Dfo
During a local media round table for “Mufasa” The Lion King”, Lediga opened up about getting Benjamin to coach him.
He joked that he may not be winning any Grammys but it took six months to learn that song and have the finished product.
Lediga recorded most of his vocals here in Bryanston, Johannesburg. “I’d wake up and they say call time is four, some days I would go and be there till midnight, some 30 minutes just to do grunts.”
The actor has been working on the project since 2021 until four or five months ago this year.
Lediga also opened up about hearing certain lines for the first time when he watched the movie and seeing how some of the funny crazy stuff he said made the cut.
@iolnews IOL's Oluthando Keteyi is in conversation with actor, scriptwriter and director Kagiso Lediga about his latest role in “Mufasa: The Lion King” as Young Rafiki. He unpacks on how he wanted his character to sound and the use of certain words. 📹: @Oluthando Keteyi #MUFASA #LIONKING #SOUTHAFRICA #FYP ♬ original sound - IOL NEWS
The characters in the original “Lion King” are from Africa Swahili, East Africa but Lediga was conscious of butchering the language and wanted to sound as authentic as possible which influenced his choice of language.
“I kind of took liberties with various permission, I would say things and he’d (Barry Jenkins -director) go, oh I like that, what is that, what is that language? And I tell him and then he goes, ‘Oh let's keep that, let’s play with it.’ ”
When it came to building the character of the young Rafiki, Lediga looked at the previous two versions, the one voiced by Robert Guillaume (1994) and John Kani (2019).
“I grew up on the original Rafiki, I went to the cinema to watch that movie in 1994 and that Rafiki is like etched into my brain and then when the new remake now with the John, when that happened, he's like more serious, but that’s the universe of that movie.
“So I kind of asked Barry if I can combine them because I like that hype of Asante Sana from the first Rafiki and the John Kani one which is more grown up.”
“Mufasa: Lion King” premieres in cinemas across the country on December 20.
IOL Entertainment