Johannesburg - This week we feature South African actress Jennifer Steyn.
Steyn is well known for her roles in hit movies “Goodbye Bafana”, “’Master Harold’ … and the Boys”, “Good Life” and “Slumber Party Massacre”.
The actress is also popularly known for roles in television serials such as “Recipes for Love and Murder”, “Abo Mzala”, “Dam” and “Madam & Eve”.
Apart from cinema and television, she has performed in several South African theatre plays, such as “The Inconvenience of Wings”, “The Goat or Who is Sylvia”, “A Doll’s House”, “The Captain’s Tiger”, “Molly Bloom”, “The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore”, “Macbeth”, “King Lear”, “Richard III” and “Green Man Flashing”.
Her most recent awards and nominations include a Safta best support nomination for “Goodbye Bafana” and a Fleur du Cap nomination for best actress for “Molly Bloom”.
You are able to star in any current Netflix series. Which series would you choose to star in?
What’s on Netflix currently? I’ve not been indulging in the ‘series getaway’ since we removed our masks. But I’d like to imagine the one not yet made. Huge budget from the Department of Arts and Culture, because they know how much talent we have. A darkly comic series called, “It’s going to be okay.”
You are able to work on a blockbuster movie with any director in the world. Who do you choose and why?
I don’t mean to be obstructionist here, but I’m not so familiar with the blockbuster circuit. “2001: A Space Odyssey” was profound and Stanley Kubrick, quite brilliant. This reference dates me, clearly, but it’s up there with the greats.
However, imagine if Shakespeare’s “King Lear” were adapted as a contemporary blockbuster. Cordelia is the hero and even when she dies, her spirit continues to fight evil. It’s a bit Japanese, this blockbuster. Think Akira Kurosawa. But King Lear could be played by Sello Maake Ka-Ncube. What do you think? Cordelia falls in love with a fabulous-looking person and together they deal with the division of the land, bringing peace and prosperity. But are they strong enough to root out the source of evil? Probably not. There has to be a sequel. Looks like I’m going to direct this one!
Your favourite item of clothing in your closet currently is…?
My new yoga pants. I started yoga with Jeanette Clarke during lockdown and my life is forever changed.
Your go-to cheat meal is…?
Easy. Nachos.
How would you like to be remembered?
It doesn’t feel so important to me to be remembered. But it would be nice if different people remembered different things about me and if somehow those different things were memories that had some sort of meaningful resonance for the one who remembers.
You are on death row. You are given one last meal and drink. You can have anything. What do you choose?
Ciabatta, butter, cheeses, olives and a glass of good shiraz followed by fair-trade chocolate which has at least 90% cocoa. No need to glut oneself just before the guillotine hits the wood block.
Your celebrity crush growing up was…?
Donovan.
The biggest misconception people have of you is…?
People think I’m confident. I’m often not. I’m just brave, perhaps. Or stupid.
The one thing that has caught your attention on social media in the last week is…?
I have been so uplifted by the post-Covid … there, I said it … post-Covid explosion of theatre, dance and music … in all kinds of spaces. Such positive reports about the National Arts Festival in Makhanda. South African artists and South Africans in general are resilient and courageous. I have been struck by the productive spirits of Sophie Joans, Lorin Sookool, Tshegofatso Mabutla, Kanya Viljoen, among others. And when Eugene Hön’s work pops up, I am always astounded by his brilliance.
You are going to be stuck on an island for a year, but can have one celebrity with you, one book and a song. What are your choices?
Marina Abramovic. “Death in Venice” by Thomas Mann, and Charles Mingus, “Folk Forms 1”.