KIRSTI BUICK
It looks like Charlize Theron needs to make room for other local actors making waves in Hollywood.
One such actor is Fana Mokoena, who recently announced on Twitter, “Today I travel to the UK to shoot World War Z with Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos and Anthony Mackie. SA will be proud.”
Mokoena made a name for himself playing Rwandan general Augustin Bizimungu in Hotel Rwanda and Dr Mandla Sithole in local soapie Generations.
The international world of soapies is also set to gain some local flavour, with Tsotsi’s Terry Pheto joining the cast of The Bold and the Beautiful. Her character on the show is as yet unknown, but the writers of the series have announced that Pheto will be playing a “world-renowned, South African heart surgeon”.
Apparently, the soapie has long desired to create a South African character, in order to directly engage with local fans. Pheto’s character will be appearing on South African screens in 2012.
The ever-popular vampire genre seems to be following the trend too. Durban-born Nondumiso Tembe has been cast in the fourth season of HBO’s True Blood.
Tembe will be appearing alongside the likes of Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer and Alexander Skarsgard in the gripping vampire drama. The 25-year-old, who will be playing a French supernatural, appears in several episodes.
Cape Town-born beauty Leslie-Ann Brandt has also taken her craft to Hollywood, where she was recently cast in the big-budget production Drift. Brandt is set to play Lani, a Hawaiian surfer, opposite Avatar’s Sam Worthington.
Brandt, however, is no stranger to the silver screen, having already appeared in Legend of the Seeker and Chuck. She also appears regularly in the current season of CSI: NY. In a recent interview, she said, “I booked Chuck the second week I arrived in Los Angeles and auditioned for CSI: NY while I was filming Chuck. In order to make the schedule work, I had to film both shows on one of the days. So in the morning, I played a kidnapped victim in CSI and then in the afternoon, I morphed into a Moroccan rebel with an army of hot babes … I love my job.”
Image: Times Live Blog
