WATCH | Atandwa Kani on living his dream living in America

Actor Atandwa Kani has lifted the lid on what it takes for him to live out his acting dream in America.

With most parts of the world under lockdown and self-isolating at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, Atandwa went on a young Instagram LIVE on Artists Corner TV with fellow actor Thapelo Mokoena sharing more insight on how he was pushing his acting dream in the US.  

“I've always had the dream to come to New York because of the theatre, it's in the United States, there are a lot more opportunities. So, I started availing myself more on international work.”

Atandwa added he had to be a part of many productions in order to get his face known in the international acting industry.  

“We did Young Leonardo which is a BBC production, we did Life Is Wild together Thaps, We did Book Of Negros with Cuba Gooding Jr, Young Mandela ... I shot Black Panther in Atlanta while I was still living in SA.

“So, I had to have that body of work for when I got here [so] people would know a little bit about me ... cause they haven't seen me before, I had to start from scratch. It was more like a rebirth of an actor.” 

For him to learn and understand the international market, Atandwa explained he had to study the culture which will help him translate it more in his acting.

“And then, I enrolled at NYU, so that I can learn about the American theatre, the American work, writers, directors and producers ... to learn about this particular dialect which I believe I'm trying.

“So, what I'm actually doing is planting seeds and putting all the pieces of the puzzle in one area so that I can start working on the bigger picture ..."