Goals
Growing up I always had a lot of life goals. I wanted to be a veterinarian, a zoologist, a chef, work as a doctor for the UN, but most importantly I always wanted to be an actor. I don’t know if always necessarily knew what it meant to be an actor, but the idea of standing on a stage as someone else, creating imaginative worlds sounded very exciting to me. Only really now 17 odd years later am I figuring out what I really want to get out of this life of mine.
When I was sitting on my balcony late one night in Cape Town a close friend of mine asked me to not think to hard about it and with no boundaries or limitations explain, in detail, one day of my life in ten years time. It was a pretty easy task for me, I had a penthouse apartment in New York City, I was in the beginning stages of starring in a new film and I was also panning a trip to Tanzania where I was apart of an organization to aid children in impoverished countries all over the world.
I think where I’m going with this is that I still have a lot of goals that I want to achieve in my life.
To start of a bit more logistically, within the year that I graduate from CalArts my ultimate goal is to get some kind of citizenship to stay in the US. My plans to achieve this goal is to do as much work as I possibly can and create such a good resume that the government will happily give me an O-1 visa (“To qualify for an O-1 visa, the beneficiary must demonstrate extraordinary ability by sustained national or international acclaim and must be coming temporarily to the United States to continue work in the area of extraordinary ability.” - http://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/o-1-individuals-extraordinary-ability-or-achievement/o-1-visa-individuals-extraordinary-ability-or-achievement )
Now for the tricky part – ‘to do as much work as possible’.
I am currently in the beginning stages of a very big projects, which I hope to continue for the next couple of years.
I am looking to create a society of talented South African artists who have also made a commitment to be in the US. I would like to make this society an opportunity for like minded South Africans to collaborate together and create a new age of exceptional art exposed to the world. I believe there is way more potential in South Africa than is even nearly uncovered and I would like to be the voice for that prospective.
With this project going on I would also like to further my own potential as an actor. I am looking to join a theatre company in LA or New York. I am also going to try and get an agent for film, television, voice over and commercial work. Since it is not guaranteed that I will be in the US forever,I have already had meetings with agents in South Africa, so that if I do have to go back I can start working and hopefully achieve good enough credentials to come back here.
Something that is very important to me is my education. I am a strong believer that the more knowledge a person has, the more opportunity and success they have the potential to achieve. As one of my biggest role models Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
And that is exactly what I intend to do. I plan on educating myself hopefully for the rest of my life. In my 5-year plan, I would like to do another undergraduate degree in sociology; apart of being an actor for me is understanding human behavior and if I can have a better grasp on human beings in a more intellectual fashion, I have no doubt it will better me as an artist.
I am also looking at getting my post-grad in voice and speech training. I have been looking at schools in the UK and more specifically at the Central School of Speech and Drama to do this training. The curriculum there is highly prestigious and specific to not only better my own craft but also give me the ability to teach.
A big part of my long-term goals in life is teaching everything that I have and will learn to other young enthusiastic artists.
Most of my life has been growing up in a country where poverty, discrimination and the lack of human compassion were blatant in my face everyday. And to be honest it is sometimes difficult as a privileged, white, male to have valid opinions on matters that I have no idea how to sympathize with. But I believe unless more privileged white males, learn how empathize and change their ideologies on the world it will never become a better place. Making the world a happier and more peaceful place for other people is something that I strive to achieve with life, in everything that I do. “We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.” – Nelson Mandela