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01 March 2021 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Supplied
Carel Nel will star in the upcoming fantasy horror movie, Gaia.

He has been in more than 40 international and national films, and has worked with the likes of Ridley Scott and Deon Opperman. These are just some of the achievements that Carel Nel, alumnus of the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts at the University of the Free State (UFS), has mastered in his young career. For him, it is all about hard work, patience, and believing in yourself. 

Nel says the time he spent studying drama at the UFS moulded him into the excellent actor he is today. During his undergraduate study, he was fortunate to be mentored by well-known actor, Gerben Kamper, theatre maestro, Prof Nico Luwes, and drama lecturer, Steph Brink. “They gave me the foundation I needed to go out into the real world and to make my dream of being a full-time actor a reality. I will always be grateful to them,” Nel says. 

In 2016 and 2017, he won the KykNet Silwerskerm Festival Best Actor award, and has won and been nominated for numerous film and theatre awards. 

Latest movie to premiere at SXSW film festival 

Nel’s latest role is that of Barend in the Jaco Bouwer fantasy horror film Gaia. The film will have its world premiere at the SXSW film festival on 16 March 2021 in Austin, Texas. “He (Barend) is a survivalist who turned his back on society more than a decade ago, a former academic who has willingly embraced a Neolithic lifestyle,” Nel says. 

There was uncertainty about the film, as production got suspended on the seventh day of filming due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Filming of Gaia resumed in late June 2020. “This is why we are extremely proud that Gaia will have its world premiere at the SXSW film festival,” says Nel.  

Apart from all his noteworthy projects, he was very fortunate to have worked with Ridley Scott on ‘Raised by wolves.’  “I played Karl, the android, and had to go through about five hours of makeup and prosthetics every day, and while shooting, was suspended by chains from the set. My other notable project was working in the remake of the 1977 classic, Roots.

            

Portraying historical figures ‘is daunting’ 

He has an uncanny resemblance to Abraham Lincoln and actually had the opportunity to play Lincoln in the History Channel mini-series, Grant. He had to do some research in preparation for his role because there is no video or audio recording of Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln had a very distinct voice and Nel learned that the voice of Daniel Day-Lewis, the British actor who played Lincoln in the 2012 biopic ‘Lincoln ’, is as historically correct as possible. “I therefore used his voice almost as a historical reference for mine; it’s always very daunting when you play a historical or actual person,” Nel says. 

In 2017, he had the opportunity to play Prof Christiaan Barnard in Hartstog, a Deon Opperman film about the first heart transplant in South Africa . 

Carel Nel has become a well-known face on South African television and on the international big screen and he believes that a “good actor tells the truth and understands that it’s not about him/her or they, but about the story they are telling”. It is thus evident that Carel Nel is a ‘Hollywood’ A-lister to be.

 

Watch the Gaia movie trailer here:

News Archive

Qwaqwa Campus launches No Student Hungry Programme
2013-05-02

 

Samkelo Duma (white shirt) flanked by some of the guests during the launch of the NSH Programme on the Qwaqwa Campus.
Photo: Thabo Kessah
02 May 2013

The Qwaqwa Campus of the University of the Free State launched the No Student Hungry (NSH) Programme on Friday 26 April 2013. The programme aims to provide needy students with a daily balanced meal to enable them to concentrate in class and ultimately obtain their degrees. The programme – initiated by Vice-Chancellor and Rector Prof Jonathan Jansen in 2011 on the Bloemfontein Campus – already feeds hundreds of students.

Rudi Buys, Dean of Student Affairs who represented the Rectorate, encouraged students in need to focus more on their desire for greatness.

“Through this programme, you will be able you to shift your focus from the hunger pangs and rather focus all your energy on the hunger to make Africa great,” said Buys. “We want you to be different from the rest of your generation that is reluctant to compete for greatness. Many of your peers prefer mediocrity and it is our wish that through this programme, you can start learning to compete with the best,” Buys impelled.

According to the Qwaqwa Campus programme co-coordinator, Selloane Phoofolo, NSH operates on a primary and a secondary level.

“The primary level offers a food bursary to the students whose academic performance is above 65 percent and not receiving any form of financial assistance. For the 2013 academic year, we had 53 students applying and 31 have qualified. They are getting a meal for R25.00 a day at the Dining Hall,” said Phoofolo.

She further explained that, “On the secondary level, we provide monthly food parcels to 19 students who did not qualify for the food bursary. These food parcels are donated by Pick n Pay and Stop Hunger Now SA. For this, beneficiaries must undertake 40 hours of community service during the year. They must also partake in student activities. Their academic progress is monitored by the Office of Social Work.”

One of the beneficiaries, a final-year BA degree student Samkelo Duma, expressed his gratitude towards the UFS for giving him an equal opportunity to those in more fortunate situations to do his best in his studies. “It is difficult to study and concentrate on an empty stomach and I must say that the NSH is very helpful. I do not just get a meal, but I get a healthy meal to keep me going throughout the tough day,” Duma said.

Also present at the launch were the patrons of the programme, Ms Grace Jansen and Dr Carin Buys. They volunteer their time and energy to raise funds for the project.

Students apply for the allowances and are selected on the basis of financial need, academic results, active participation in student life programmes and commitment to give something back to the community.

You can also invest in these students' future by contributing R10.00 each time you sms the word 'Answer' to 38722.

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