Charlie Chaplin comes to town

During the interview with this talented 33-year-old young man, I often wanted to say: “Would the real Eugene Smith please stand up?”.

Eugene Smith wears so many hats in the performing arts that it is difficult to define him in a nutshell.

His love for art and performing began way back in primary school.

In high school he was a member of the Ligbron Drama Club where he did hip-hop dancing and just loved all facets of performing.

After school, he experimented with making slide shows and short films for friends, just as a hobby.

When Ligbron needed a more mature actor for their play, “Once upon a mattress”, Eugene- who says he cannot sing – had his doubts, but when he heard that it was the role of the mute King Sextimus he was very keen on taking it on.

This ignited his fascination with mute actors and their physical abilities and a new Charlie Chaplin was born in his mind. He also loves the humour that forms part of mute acting.

Eugene entered a competition called Project ED, aimed at expanding children’s vocabulary. He called his contribution “Unhallowed Frankenstein” and it received quite some hits on You Tube.

In the meantime, when he was involved with productions, he would watch the directors,backstage and learn all the time.

In his mind, though, he did not consider it realistic for a young “boytjie” from Ermelo to make it in the world of entertainment.

However, he never stopped loving the stage and performing.

He always keeps in mind the quote: “If your dreams don’t scare you you aren’t dreaming big enough.”

So, young Eugene never stopped dreaming. When it comes to making short films, Eugene is a jack of all trades. He does everything from acting to producing and editing and whatever it takes to make the film. No matter how busy he was, he never forgot Charlie Chaplin and entered another international competition – a Charlie Chaplin Bustle.

Two months later he heard that he was the winner in the U/21 group.

He is also a member of an art group called B.N.P. – Broke-No money-Production. The group has a hip-hop and rap theme and can be viewed on Sound Cloud, Facebook and Kasi MP3.

Still inspired by Charlie, he has done impersonations in churches, at photo shoots, on video and at various events.

Eugene also loves photography and enjoys playing model for his photographer friends.

Art is in his blood and he believes in order to be a good artist you must have imagination, inspiration and innovation – easier said than done. A good artist should have the ability to touch people’s hearts and souls and influence the lives of people.

He made a video for his father, “Father to Son”, and believes it touched people’s hearts.

He believes by paying it forward and helping other people, you will benefit in the end.

His advice to young people that want to make it in the industry is to start small and keep on looking for that loophole to sneak in.

“Don’t focus on the big goal too hard and miss the small opportunities that come daily to give back to humanity.”

Eugene still finds time to write a book and a story, that if all goes well, will be broadcast on RSG.

He is also a sculptor and enjoys working with clay.

Karate is another passion and he has been practising martial arts for 11 years. He has a black belt and is working on his third dan.

He is a Do-Jo instructor and believes that Kata, a form of karate, is just another way of performing and takes years to perfect.

He loves animals and “Caesar’s Sunday – Sunday with my dogs” is a production from his studio called Flare Studios.

He firmly believes in the five point principles for the Karate practitioner’s conduct (The Dojo Kun): Seek perfection of character; Be faithful; Endeavour for effect; Respect others; and Refrain from violent behaviour.

And just as if he is not busy enough, Eugene still finds the time to help out at his mother’s accountant firm.

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