SPECIAL AGENT LEE

01 September 2009 - 18:25 By unknown
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I COLLECT Moonyeenn Lee from her office in Rosebank, Johannesburg, and drive with her into town with the frivolous notion of visiting one of the iconic old prop stores down President Street. The ones that are jam-packed with all the gaudy and obscure paraphernalia of showbiz.

I COLLECT Moonyeenn Lee from her office in Rosebank, Johannesburg, and drive with her into town with the frivolous notion of visiting one of the iconic old prop stores down President Street. The ones that are jam-packed with all the gaudy and obscure paraphernalia of showbiz.

It seems an apt setting for an interview with the women who is arguably responsible for finding the major props for the films she casts - the actors.

Her filmography is impressive. Not only did she cast our Oscar-winning film Tsotsi, but she has worked with some of the world's most highly regarded film directors like John Boorman (Point Blank) on Country of My Skull, Phillip Noyce (Rabbit Proof Fence) on Catch a Fire and is now casting for The Number One Ladies Detective Agency with Anthony Minghella (The Talented Mr Ripley).

And on her agency's books you will find all the heavy hitters and big names of the South African acting fraternity

As we drive around looking for the old stores, she tells me that her unusual name was given to her by her mother, an actress, who saw it in a classic film of the 1940s.

The film was called Smiling Through and opened with a shot of a tombstone with the name Moonyeenn etched into it. This particular opening sequence brought on hysterical tears in her two children when she watched it with them later.

These children are now grown up and also in the biz. Her daughter directs films and her son is an actor living in Los Angeles.

Moonyeenn herself has been in the business for more than 30 years. She started her agency on her dining room table by selling her defunct engagement ring (she had just gotten divorced) and some paintings. She convinced a friend who was a successful agent in London to: "Come to Africa and get drunk for three weeks, and teach me the business."

She clearly learnt very well. So much so that he wanted her to go back to London with him and work there.

"I thought if I went I would learn about English actors and I wanted to be here on the ground. It was very hard at the beginning, no cellphones, no SMS, no e-mail, a ticker-tape telex machine. But it was fun.

Imagine there was no TV, and if we cast a policeman or a military role the script had to be approved by the police or the navy. Never mind getting permission to go into the townships to scout for talent."

As we park outside the last prop shop in town, we can the idea. The Africa-Remix exhibition is on at the Johannesburg Art Gallery and it suddenly seems a much more enticing idea. Moonyeen is happy to go with the flow, in fact for someone who maintains that, "I shout at everyone in my office", when describing the daily reality of running the agency, she is remarkably laid back and open to experience.

My manoeuvres through the taxis outside Joubert Park bring on another story from my passenger: "I learnt to drive properly in Soweto," she says, describing how you should "just go" when faced with a jam and oncoming traffic, "people will make way".

She explains that she finds talent in the community theatres, and at the drama and art schools, although she maintains that our art schools could really improve. "It costs more to go to AFDA (the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance) than to go to university."

It was in the community theatres in Soweto that she found the mix of talent that won Tsotsi the Oscar.

I ask her how she identifies that star quality?

"It's indescribable but you just know, I suppose the best way to describe it is that it's like tasting a really good wine, or touching a piece of really fine material, or knowing when you see a great work of art - you just know."

She qualifies that statement by saying that it's obviously a personal matter of taste, too, because what appeals to you may not appeal to the next person. "Take Charlize Theron. I don't think she is the most talented actress South Africa has produced but having said that she had some very lucky breaks and she works incredibly hard."

She gets a little heated and describes her irritation with the fact that former President Nelson Mandela is always photographed with visiting international luminaries and never pictured enough with our homegrown talent.

"The problem in South Africa is that there are not enough opportunities for actors to practice. It's like an athlete not training. We have made only two feature films in the past year, it's not enough."

Soap opera's are not an appropriate training ground:"It's a completely different kind of acting, that does not prepare you for the big screen. There is no soul in it."

This is the soul she is adamant will only develop if we produce more South African films.

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