Lesley-Ann Brandt is starring as a lead character in the latest TV show, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.
The SA-born actress and producer will be doing her thing alongside Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira in the six-episode series, which is a spin-off from the globally popular TV show, The Walking Dead.
The upcoming American post-apocalyptic horror drama television series was created by Scott M. Gimple and Danai Gurira for AMC and is set after the conclusion of the original The Walking Dead series, with Lincoln, Gurira and Pollyanna McIntosh reprising their roles.
Lesley-Ann plays Pearl Thorne, a South African character, allowing the mom of one to show off her lekker Saffa accent for the first time, per the Weekend Argus:
“When I auditioned for the show, I gave them options. Originally the character was written to be French and I asked them about being open to other accents. So I gave them South African accent and I gave them a New Zealand accent; I think the South African accent resonated more with the character.”
She said she was thrilled when they liked the idea of her being South African “because this is such a huge world, this Walking Dead world”.
“It’s a show that’s been on air for 12 years, and it was a way for us to have a very South African character in it, South African mannerisms and to hear this very specific accent from Cape Town get on an international show like that, would be amazing and in a wonderful way for me to bring, you know, a little bit of a SA into my work.”
Lesley-Ann says she’s really excited for people to see it as “It’s been a lot of hard work”.
Lesley-Ann was born and raised in Greenhaven in Cape Town and after matriculating at Pinelands High in Cape Town, emigrated with her family to New Zealand in 1999. She worked as a model and an actress there until she landed a lead role in the international TV series, Spartacus.
In 2010, she made the move to Hollywood and has since starred in various TV shows including Chuck, CSI: NY (alongside singer Ne-Yo) and Gotham before landing her big TV break as a regular cast member on the hit show, Lucifer.
This latest outtake will be her biggest role since playing out six seasons as Mazikeen in the Neil Gaiman series.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live has already premiered on the AMC channel in the USA while an SA release date is still to be confirmed.
[source:iol]
