Lesley Pillay is reaching for the stars
Keep an eye on this young man who clearly has a passion for acting - he could yet spring some surprises.
LESLEY Pillay (19) of Marburg is an aspiring actor who is determined to make a name for himself in the industry.
He has featured as an extra in two movies filmed on the South Coast in recent times – a German movie ‘Most Beautiful Day’, filmed at Uvongo beach, and a Brazilian film ‘Gemma’ filmed in Port Edward.
Gemma is due to be released in the first week of January next year.
“I was an extra in the two movies. In the German movie I played a guy who talks to his girlfriend, while in the Brazilian movie I played a tribal warrior,” he explained.
He also features in a documentary, called Discovering KZN, which is due to released in December this year.
Not surprisingly then, his main goal in life is to make it to Hollywood one day. “This is where all the cameras and amazing actors and actresses are,” he said.
He also has an eye on doing some modelling, photography and script writing.
He dreams of Hollywood and New York. “That’s where the magic happens and where stars are made,” he says.
A celebrity he admires is Danilo Acquisto of Afternoon Express fame.
Lesley is single at the moment but would like to be in a relationship in the future.
His favourite sports to watch are basketball (he’s a big fan of Michael Jordan), baseball and tennis.
From a young age, he has always been drawn to acting, inspired by actors on shows he watched. He did drama at school and enjoyed being in school plays.
Last year he decided to take his acting a step further and through an agency managed to land several auditions.
It hasn’t been easy and there have been those who have mocked him.
“There were haters in school who never believed that I could become an actor, but I want to show them that anything is possible,” he said.
He has done some work with Durban based actor Theshan Naicker of The Curse of Highway Sheila fame, when working on a still-to-be-released documentary on Durban and Port Shepstone.
“It was great to meet him. I was nervous at first but calmed down after a while,” he laughed.
Looking ahead, Lesley can envision himself acting in various roles if need be, from the ‘bad guy serial killer’ type, to romantic comedies, but he would prefer the horror genre, like the movie In Detention – a teenage horror movie.
Lesley thanked his family and friends, in particular Lisa Pillay and Chané Naidoo, for their support.
