Top South African Actors
by virtueself | created - 19 Jul 2012 | updated - 19 Jul 2012 | PublicSouth African born actors pushing boundaries.
1. Charlize Theron
Producer | Monster
Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, a city in the greater Johannesburg area, in South Africa, the only child of Gerda Theron (née Maritz) and Charles Theron. She was raised on a farm outside the city. Theron is of Afrikaner (Dutch, with some French Huguenot and German) descent, and Afrikaner ...
2. Alice Krige
Actress | Star Trek: First Contact
Alice Maud Krige was born on June 28, 1954 in Upington, South Africa where her father, Dr. Louis Krige, worked as a young physician. The Kriges later moved to Port Elizabeth where Alice grew up in what she describes as a "very happy family", a family that also included two brothers (both of whom ...
3. Janet Suzman
Actress | Nicholas and Alexandra
This alert and classy actress seemed poised for Hollywood stardom in the early 1970s. Although it wasn't meant to be, Janet Suzman has remained one of the more respected classical stage players of her time. Born in 1939, she was raised in a staunchly liberal household in South Africa at a time when...
Amazing Shakespeare Goddess
4. Vanessa Zachos
Actress | Rush
Born and raised in South Africa. She appeared briefly in the very thought-provoking and memorable independent production Rush opposite Chris Hemsworth and directed by Ron Howard; As a Loyalist Nurse in J. J. Abram's award winning sci-fi series on Fox, Fringe with Anna Torv. Other credits include ...
This beauty just filmed a role opposite Chris Hemsworth
5. Sharlto Copley
Actor | District 9
Sharlto Copley was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Linda Stocks and Bruce Copley, a former university professor. His childhood dreams of acting were put on hold for many years when his television production company was one of few in his native South Africa granted licensing to create content...
6. Arnold Vosloo
Actor | The Mummy
Arnold Vosloo was born in Pretoria, South Africa, to stage actor parents, Johanna Petronella Vorster and Johannes J. Daniel Vosloo. He is an Afrikaaner (of mostly Dutch, as well as German, Swiss-German, Danish, and French, descent).
Vosloo quickly established a fine reputation as an actor in his ...
7. Adhir Kalyan
Actor | Rules of Engagement
Born in 1983 and raised in Durban, South Africa, Adhir Kalyan moved to London to pursue an acting career. He appeared as a guest star on the BBC series Holby City (1999) and MI-5 (2002). Kalyan's first leading role was in the CW's comedy series Aliens in America (2007), in which he played Raja, a ...
8. Musetta Vander
Actress | Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
A Dutch South African, Musetta Vander was raised without that most basic of modern conveniences--television! Radio programming, childhood books and weekend trips to the drive-in introduced her to the magical world of movies. It was not until the mid-'70s that South Africa finally got television, ...
9. Kandyse McClure
Actress | Battlestar Galactica
Kandyse McClure is a Canadian actress born on March 22, 1980 in Durban in South Africa. She graduated from West Vancouver Secondary School in 1998. She is an actress, known for main roles in TV series Battlestar Galactica (2004), Hemlock Grove (2013), and from the movies Carrie (2002) and Seventh ...
10. Presley Chweneyagae
Actor | Tsotsi
Presley Chweneyagae was born in 1984 in Soweto, Transvaal, South Africa. He is an actor and director, known for Tsotsi (2005), The River (2018) and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013).
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