Terry Pheto signs to leading US agency, Paradigm

Sandton’s award-winning actress, Terry Pheto, has officially signed to a leading US talent management agency, Paradigm.

This comes just as she’s about to finish filming for Black Entertainment Television’s upcoming limited series Madiba, where she plays Winnie Mandela and stars opposite Laurence Fishburne who plays Nelson Mandela.

Since it’s founding in 1992, Paradigm has established itself as a leading entertainment talent agency, guiding the careers of an elite stable of actors, musical artists, directors, writers and producers. Pheto now joins the likes of Fishburne, Jada Pinkett Smith, Janelle Monae, Ed Sheeran and numerous other A-List Hollywood actors and musicians under Paradigm’s management.

“Winnie Mandela is a very special role that we identified as having breakout potential when we first read the Madiba scripts several months ago. We are excited to work with Terry to help make her career as important and successful in the United States and globally as she already is in South Africa,” said Paradigm talent agent, Nick LoPiccolo.

The Sandton-based actress is no stranger to the international scene. Her debut film in 2006, Totsi, won an Oscar, and in 2008 she became the first South African face of L’Oreal Paris.

In 2011, she landed a recurring role on the American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful; in 2013 she starred alongside Idris Elba in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and she also represented South Africa on the jury for the 2015 International Emmy Awards last November.

Recently she produced her first feature film, the coming-of-age drama Ayanda, which premiered at the LA Film Festival last year and has been picked up for US distribution by Ava DuVernay’s Array, just to mention a few.

“It’s a huge honour to have my talent recognised by a leading talent management agency such as Paradigm. I have two international projects coming out back-to-back and I believe this new relationship will enable me to explore further opportunities internationally,” she said.

Pheto’s signing to Paradigm is fitting as she celebrates 13 years as an actress.