The South African residents of Los Angeles are doing well. Earlier this year, Christel Smith (Tarien of Egoli fame), put on a stage production in Hollywood - African Gothic, the English translation of Diepe Grond. She bought the film rights to Diepe Grond and wants to make it an Afrikaans film. Christel moved to LA six years ago and works as an actress as well as a personal trainer. She met Quentin Tarantino when she was Uma Thurman's personal trainer during the making of the Kill Bill movies. She became his trainer too. He attended her stage play.
Esta Terblanche, 27, (Bienkie in Egoli) left her successful run in the US soapie All My Children, and moved from New York after 4 years to LA with her husband André Kock. She's working on breaking into film work. Esta often visits with her South African friends in LA, Elna van Wyk and Natania van Heerden.
Natania acted in the South African TV series Glaskastele (1994), Cul de Sac and Vleuels. She and husband Dawid van Aswegan, a computer consultant, have been in the US for 11 years. They have two children, Steffan (14) and Grethe (10). The family will be returning to SA later this year. Natania is looking forward to acting in Afrikaans again. She believes that the longer you stay away from South Africa, the more bits of you die. Natania staged a one-woman show, Boerewors and Beyond, in the US and Canada, that drew rave reviews from South African audiences.
Sunu Gonera (30) grew up in Mpopoma township, Bulawayo. He was good at rugby and won a scholarship to the elite private school Falcon College, and another scholarship to the University of Cape Town. Gonera worked as a banker at Investec and at BOE. He resigned at the age of 28 and started as a runner at a production house. He went on to direct a commercial for the Sports Trust, which won three Vuka and two Loerie awards. He took the role of a journalist in In My Country alongside Juliette Binoche and Samuel L Jackson, founded his own Cape Town production house (Faith Creations) and signed on with Hollywood agents IMG. Now the filmmaker has been signed on as a director at Lions Gate. His film, based on the life of US swim coach Jim Ellis, will star Jada Pinkett Smith. Gonera and his wife Rene, a house renovator, and their two children, have moved to LA. Six years ago he took out South African citizenship.
Tertius Meintjes spent a few months in LA, where he has an agent representing him as a photographer. The actor lives in Germany with his model girlfriend, Alexandra. He has made a name for himself there as a top photographer, photographing Helena Christensen and Geraldine Chaplin.
Margaret Gardiner, former Miss South Africa and Miss Universe, is an entertainment journalist in LA for South African TV channels and magazines. Her husband André Nel is a doctor in LA.
