A Cape Town actress from Zonnebloem will be entertaining a local audience in the new local “dramedy”, Baby Mamas, which has its South African premiere today in Johannesburg.
Kay Smith, 26, has graced our local screens in TV series like Vlug na Egipte in 2012 and then the follow-up series, Terug na Egipte, in 2013. Though 7de Laan fans will know her as Tarryn who played the girlfriend of Errol, played by Christo Davids.
Kay has worked in theatre, movies and TV. Her first opportunity in acting came when she was in matric at Durbanville High School in 2009.
She was inspired by her school teacher, Ilna Stander, to participate in a national acting competition that saw her performing in the play, Vaselinetjie, at the Artscape Theatre.
That won her a bursary to study acting at the Northlink College drama school in 2010.
She has also done two years of theatre training at Magnet Theatre in 2014.
Kay is still very new to the movie industry, having made her debut in this year’s hard-hitting Ellen: The Ellen Pakkies Story, which tells the true story of the Lavender Hill mother who was forced to take the life of her abusive, tik-addicted son.
Kay plays the part of Nikita, a friend to Ellen Pakkies’s son, Abie.
“I was really humbled to be part of this story and in the beautiful and dignified way that everybody came together to tell this story.
“Sometimes in our narrative, the dignity can be lost, so we end up judging people without knowing why they made the decisions that they made,” she says.
Kay’s current project is a far cry from the gritty Ellen Pakkies drama.
The comedy-drama Baby Mamas, sees her co-starring with SalaminaMosese,Thembisa Mdoda and Dineo Ranaka.
Kay plays Chantel Steyn, a young woman who is pregnant by a boyfriend not ready to be a father.
In this female-led movie, each one of the characters has a child, apart from Kay’s character who is expecting, and all four women go through different degrees of their relationship with families and the fathers of their children.
Kay can next be seen in a telenovela TV series, Arendsvlei, on kykNET, in October.
The eldest of seven siblings, she says she has had a lot of support from her family.
“The acting industry is not easy. You are going to have to make sacrifices, have to work hard.
“You are going to have to put in the extra hours because the work does not stop.” she says.
Never stop dreaming and don’t give up on your goals or your values, she tells those wanting to break into the industry.
Baby Mamas will be released nationwide in South Africa on Friday October 12.
