WATCH: Hollywood stars shine for ex-Kemptonian
Bredell-raised Nadiya Geldenhuys is reaching for the stars in Los Angeles since her humble beginnings in Kempton Park
“She surely wasn’t born to be average. She was born to be someone big.”
The words of Hettie Kritzinger, owner of Akademie vir Dramakuns in Glen Marais, boasting about a former student from Bredell, Nadiya Geldenhuys’ (22), success story.
Nadiya left South Africa in 2016 to study at the New York Film Academy (NYFA) in Los Angeles after matriculating from Hoërskool Kempton Park the previous year. She never looked back.
In 2017, she performed on stage at the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival as lead actress in the play, A Vegas Kind of Love. She shared the stage with actors Matt Doherty, Nicholas Read, Kofi Boakye and Henry LeBlanc.
According to her mother, Lani, Nadiya graduated from NYFA in September 2018 as a film actress. Her thesis film project, which she wrote, cast, produced and starred in, won five film festival awards for best actress in a leading role.
Nadiya started reaching for the stars at the Akademie vir Dramakuns since she was young. Kritzinger said: “One of the greatest stimulants of Nadiya’s imagination is the emotional involvement with her tasks and studies.
Nadiya competed in numerous talent competitions on a national level, like the South African Talent Championships, Talent Africa, SA Championships of Performing Arts and national eisteddfods. On international level she partook in the Actors, Models and Talent for Christ (AMTC) competition.
At the age of 16, she was scouted at the national rounds of The South African Talent Championships (SATCH) and was selected to represent South Africa in July 2014 at the AMTC Shine Convention in Orlando, Florida, USA.
“This is a fantastic platform to promote local up-and-coming artists in the international industry. Nadiya attended AMTC, where she performed in various categories (acting, vocal, modelling) and her amazing talent, commitment and hard work truly paid off,” Lani told Express.
Nadiya also performed in the final showcase in the acting category after which she received several calls from agents attending the convention. As a result, she also landed a private interview with Christian Kaplan from 20th Century Fox Productions.
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