Acting is believing: lights, camera, action!

As an actor you must believe in invented circumstances and give birth to your character to create a dimension of truth in the audience’s mind.

According to screen veteran Brumilda van Rensburg – best known for her role as Louwna in Egoli: Place of Gold – you have to literally become someone else.

She says, “You don’t act, you become that person.”

With more than 20 years’ acting experience, be it on stage, television or the big screen, she acknowledges that each new role brings with it challenges that without thought or preparation could result in total collapse of the proposed scenario.

“When we arrive on set, we have to be completely prepared. There is no time for second takes,” she says.

“Often before a shoot, all I do is rehearse. When I go to braais at a friend’s house or with family, I have to sit reading through my script and learning my lines. It’s hard work but I love it.”

Brumilda van Rensburg. Picture: supplied

What is more, and contrary to popular belief, is that it’s not always possible for the actor to ad-lib, because according to Van Rensburg the script has been written in the rhythm of the character and an incompatiable improvisation will break that flow.

“The writers we have in this country are really good at what they do. When they write the character’s dialogue, they do so with the correct timing and rhythm in mind.”

Playing the part of Magdaleen Willemse in Henk Pretorius’ Leading Lady (director of Fanie Fourie’s Lobola), set in the small town of Brandfort in the Free State, the actress was once again taken out of her comfort zone.

The film is a cross-continental love story about an aspiring British actress, Jodi Rutherford (Katie McGrath), who persuades Kobus Willemse (Bok van Blerk), a farmer from Brandfort, to prepare her for a role in a major film as an Afrikaans war heroine. In return, Jodi undertakes to arrange and direct the annual Christmas concert at the Willemse farm. It is here Jodi comes in contact with Magdaleen, a “regte boerevrou” – who wants only the best girl for her son.

LADIES FIRST. From left, British actress Katie McGrath performs alongside South African veteran Brumilda van Rensburg. Picture: supplied

Though very different to roles Van Rensburg has played in the past, she says she performed the role of Magdaleen instinctively, from her gut, as she was born in the Free State and could relate well with the Afrikaner culture and farm life.

For those who have always wondered what goes on in the minds of actors during their performance, Van Rensburg clarifies: “You think what your character would think. A camera picks up thoughts. It picks up stuff you don’t necessarily say or do. Acting is reacting to the situation and those around you. You have to think the right thing to portray it.”