It is always great to see one of our own doing amazing things in the biggest TV and Film market in the world. It used to be hard in the beginning but lately we see more and more of our talent making a name and a career for themselves in Hollywood.

Here’s our list:

John Kani

Who can say they have never heard of this name before? My Kani has been in the industry since 1965 where he started acting in Port Elizabeth. He has starred in numerous theatre, TV shows and movies such as Sizwe Banzi is dead, The Island, My Children! My Africa!, Othelo and Nothing but the Truth. He is the executive trustee of the John Kani Theatre Foundation as well as founder and director of the John Kani Theatre Laboratory. In 2018 he starred as king TChaka in the Marvel Studios blockbuster, Black Panther.

Atandwa Kani

Following in his fathers footsteps, Atandwa Kani has starred as the young Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. He also starred in Black Panther as the young TChaka. He is starring in a Malik Yoba led series called Terror Lake Drive.

Maggie Benedict

This 40 year old was born in Mamelodi, Pretoria and is well known for her role as Akhona in Generations. She has also appeared in 7de Laan, Ashes to Ashes, Binnelanders and many more. Internationally, she has starred in The Good Doctor, Random Acts of Flyness, The Romanoffs and also voiced an animation series, Super Wings.

Terry Pheto

Terry rose to fame on the South African much acclaimed film, Tsotsi which went on to win an Oscar for the best foreign language film back in 2005. Since then, she has starred in The Bold and The Beautiful as Dr Malaika Maponya. I’ll never forget her first time I saw on the show. I screamed so much. She has also appeared in films like Faces and A United Kingdom and won numerous awards.

Pearl Thusi

Who knew that this actress from Zone 14 and Isidingo would end up in starring in international films? She has starred in US films like Scorpion Kind and Bulletproof 2. Who can forget her US debut in Quantico? You can also catch her in the upcoming 2-part movie Wu Assassins which was shot in Thailand. Thusi took Martial arts lessons for this role. We cannot wait to see her do her thing.

Phumzile Sitole

Daughter to the late legendary chef, mama Dorah Sitole, Phumzile has starred as Captain Ndoye in Star Trek: Discovery. She is best known for her recurring role as Akers in the series Orange is the New Black. She has also appeared on Elementary and The Good Fight.

Thuso Mbedu

This one is still fresh in our minds. Her debut US project Underground Railroad was such a huge success that saw her being interviewed by the likes of Oprah, Ellen and our very own Trevor Noah. Mbedu will be starring in the upcoming film Woman King, alongside Viola Davis.

Nomzamo Mbatha

Another one still fresh in our minds is Nomzamo Mbatha’s role as Mirembe in Eddie Murphy’s film Coming 2 America. Mbatha has just ben cast in a new moveie with Bruce Willis, titled Soul Assassin. It seems the decision to move to LA is paying off. Halala MaMbatha.

Which other South Africans are flying the SA flag high internationally? Tell us all about them in the comments.