Crazy thing called life

Early in June last year, I met up with Adriano Visagie for lunch. Needless to say, the conversation with him was awesome because he is just that. As we were saying our goodbyes, I got the impulse to ask how I could get into acting since this was a secret passion of mine. And who better to ask? He is a legend.

He advised me to audition. But auditions and I are somehow not compatible ?? , so I decided that this is not the way to go.

FIVE DAYS LATER, I kid you not, I got a message form Bret Kamwi.

I had met him once backstage at the NTN, complimenting him on his performance. We shook hands, connected on Facebook, that was it.

Long story short: He wanted to shoot a student short film and asked me if I was interested in taking up a role! It was a film about female superheroes. THIS was not a request to audition because he immediately proceeded to ask for a character check with the other actors. 

I WAS THRILLED. The character check went well. We met again for a table read. Guess who walked in? Adriano! He was pleasantly surprised to see me there, laughed out loud and said: That went quick!

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to play in the short film after all. 

When I had to leave for my first day on set, I was about to get nervous because I had only done theatre so far and that was way back at school. But then I decided to just rock up and follow the instructions. 

It was sooooo much fun. I absolutely loved it, I got valuable tips from my fellow actors and getting in and out of character wasn't that difficult. I just went with the flow and listened.

We worked hard, had a thirteen-hour shot that started at 3:00 p.m. We were thrilled to wrap up, only to realize that we had forgotten the script in the background and had to do the whole sequence over again. We are talking fighting scenes, fainting scenes, being cold, hungry and tired the works. But the team pulled through. We motivated each other and made it.

I had a blast. It was such an amazing experience AND it showed me that one could get a role without auditioning. It was such a miracle but one I gratefully accepted.

Thank you Bret Kamwi for your trust and this awesome opportunity. Thank you Chantell Uiras for being such a pillar. 

Bottom line: If you want your dreams to come true, dare to dream big. Put your dreams out there; talk about them. You might be heard sooner than you think.