South African actress Rizelle Januk is spreading her wings on the international movie scene after landing multiple roles on shows being broadcast by the BBC and HBO.
CAPE Town-based actress Rizelle Januk is spreading her wings on the international movie scene after landing multiple roles on shows being broadcast by the BBC and HBO.
The stunning 30-year-old started shooting for the BBC in 2019 but due to Covid, they had to stop and continue early this year.
“I got a role on a series called Around the World in 80 Days that will premier at the Cannes film festival before it plays on the BBC,” she says.
“In the episode I am in, Shivani Ghai (from Batwoman fame) plays my mother, while the show also stars David Tennant, Leonie Benesch and Ibrahim Korma.”
Rizelle says working with international stars is amazing.
“I have also been booked to play as an FBI agent alongside Colin Moss in a remake of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Eraser for Warner Brothers and I also got a small role in the new Resident Evil series called Venus Flytrap.
“Working with so many talented and international stars has really been good for me and I want to use the skills I have learned to make the local movie scene better because we have so many talented people that need to be out there as well.”
Acting has always been second nature to Rizelle, who spent most of her youth at theatres in Durban, where her mother worked as a producer of stage shows.
She studied theatre at Howard College in Durban before moving to the Kaap in 2016.
“As an actress, I want to take on as many roles as I can possibly get and not be pigeon-holed to certain roles, like the Indian daughter or wife.
“I absolutely love Marvel movies and one day I hope I get the chance to play a superhero that breaks traditional gender-based and cultural roles, maybe like an Indian Miss Marvel.”
Last year, Rizelle won the Simon Sabela award for best supporting actress for her role in local movie, Kings of Mulberry Street, which has since garnered interest at international festivals, and also won the best feature award at the Seattle Children’s Film festival in February.
