I was born in South Africa and went to a very English school growing up. We were immersed in a "proper" environment, etiquette, practicing to walk with books on our heads and speak the Queen's English. I owe my very proper British accent to those formative years. Acting and art was always pulsing in my blood. Storytelling came naturally to me and empathy and intuition were always at the forefront of my craft and my personality. I call empathy my superpower!
I moved to New York when I was 18, where I was accepted into Tisch, NYU for drama, but later decided to pursue a rigorous full-time course in method acting at the Lee Strasberg Film and Theater Institute for two years under the most incredible teachers, one in particular, Robert Castle. I was invited into his Masterclass at International Theater, New York where I trained for an additional year.
After doing three Indie films and a lot (about 7) of off-Broadway plays, I moved to
Mumbai. Not because I wanted to act in Bollywood, per se, but because Hollywood wasn't yet ready for me (and most ethnically diverse actors) on the scale I was ready for and believed I deserved.
Mumbai was hard and a culture shock in a lot of ways. I endured a lot in my pursuit for roles but learned that talent (at the time) wasn't a determining factor in getting cast.
Right when I was deciding whether to move back to the US, I ended up in a place I never thought I would - a reality TV show! I was cast in the first season of the show "MTV Splitsvilla" which became a huge hit, which I went on to win - along with a bloke! MTV offered me a role as a host for two years which I took and enjoyed but ultimately did not continue because it wasn't my great love - telling stories.
I decided to explore my fascination with human behaviour, people and the brain and moved to the UK and studied Neuro Linguistic Programming, Time Line Therapy, Hypnotherapy and Life Coaching and even coached for a short period out there, while acting in three short films. I found that each
discipline fuels excellence in the other and I draw from that training in my character work.
When on a break to see family in South Africa, I not only took on a challenging role as a human trafficking victim in a feature film, but I met my husband and we got married 11 months later! We moved back to the US and just when I was about ready to start marketing myself, I got pregnant!
Fast forward to 2020...
I have a beautiful toddler and an infuriating husband - hey, it balances out! I'm back to doing what I love most and in less than a year, was the lead in four short films, two of which are winning awards on the film festival circuit, including the Best Film and Best Actress category. I was also principal cast in two big national commercials that are currently on air.
Mommying is crazy hard. Mommying and acting is pseudo insane. But I'm incredibly excited about my future in this industry and the opportunities to bring my magic to Hollywood.