She was the girl who once hid behind her mum’s dress. Today, she’s playing murderers, leading TV series, bringing theatre dreams back to life – and planning to jump out of a perfectly good aeroplane. Minke Marais has come a long way. And the best part? She’s still only getting started.
There are two sides to Minke Marais.
On screen, she can be intense, vulnerable, funny and downright frightening, depending on the character. She has stepped into the school shoes of Shani Brink in the telenovela Reënboogrant, played a murderer in Die Oord and recently took on her first lead role in the Afrikaans psychological thriller Ontwaak.
Off screen, however, Minke describes herself rather differently.
“I am a huge introvert, so the shy girl definitely comes out sometimes,” she says. “I recharge alone at home. I like my me time.”
Which makes her career choice – TV actress – seem like a rather elaborate plot twist.
“The industry has almost trained my brain to be extroverted. I can be loud, social and almost faux-extroverted when the occasion calls for it, but after a long day on set or at an event, alone time is my saving grace … preferably with her boyfriend and kitten, Ditto.
Before the spotlight
Whenever Minke returns to the West Rand, there is an immediate feeling of home. Her favourite memories aren’t glam, but wonderfully ordinary. Summer Saturdays swimming while her dad braaied, her mum sitting with the cats, the dogs wandering around, camping in the backyard with her sister and even those early-morning school bus rides she once hated.
“I had to get up very early,” she laughs. Earphones in, music on. But somewhere between those familiar streets and the stage at Hoërskool Noordheuwel, the shy girl began discovering a very different version of herself.
“I was terribly shy as a child. So my parents enrolled me in a type of self-confidence school when I was five years old, and that’s where it all started.”
In primary school, Minke started doing mime and continued until matric. By high school, the stage had become where the shy girl could disappear, and someone else could step forward.
“My first stage role was, appropriately enough, a ghost with no speaking lines. I simply ran around the stage. Then came my first speaking role, and a moment I still remember vividly – looking up into the bright stage lights, seeing the audience and feeling the rush of adrenaline and energy. I thought it was amazing.”
At 15, she landed her first lead in Tafel 13. When the production ended, something unexpected happened.
“I remember for the first time that I experienced post-production blues. I was so sad that I wasn’t going to be able to play this character again. And that’s where I realised for the first time … This might actually be what I want to do with my life.” And just like that, acting stopped being something she loved and became the life she wanted.
The teacher who saw the spark
Every good coming-of-age story has someone who sees the potential before the protagonist quite believes it herself. For Minke, that person was her high-school drama teacher and mentor, Mariki de Villiers-Knop.
Mariki took a chance on her, helped develop her voice and taught her to harness her emotions – but most importantly, she made studying drama feel like a tangible future.
The beautiful part? She never really left Minke’s story. The two remain in close contact, with Minke still sending her scripts and work. And now they are working together again on Waterbrief, the one-woman production Minke first performed in her matric year.
“Last year she called me, and she told me that it’s time to take that dream on again,” says Minke.
After taking Waterbrief to the Free State Arts Festival, Minke is bringing it home to Joburg and her old high school this September. Back home. Back to the city where her love of theatre began. And back to a story that has been waiting seven years for its next chapter.
Following the dream
Studying drama wasn’t initially met with wild enthusiasm at home. Like many parents, Minke’s parents were concerned about the financial security of a career in the arts and suggested something more practical. Accounting, perhaps.
Minke had other plans. “I told them I’ll study accounting and when I’m done, I’ll give them the certificate and say, thank you for wasting your money. Can I please study what I want to study now?’”
After her Grade 11 production, Minke walked out of the theatre into a sea of cheering parents and saw her father crying. He told her he was proud of her.
She went on to study Drama and Theatre Studies at Stellenbosch University, followed by honours in creative writing – because apparently acting alone wasn’t quite enough. One day, she wants to create her own productions too.
Along the way came recognition, including winning ATKV Tienertoneel in 2019 and later being nominated for a Silwerskermfees award. But awards were never really the destination. The stories were.
She doesn’t just play the part
Ask her to choose one favourite role, and you’re asking a very sentimental actress to choose between her babies. Every project seems to have its own little corner of her heart – from theatre and four years of children’s theatre with Kipper or Vlooi to the television roles that have taken her career in exciting new directions.
But strip away the roles, awards and television credits, and what really drives Minke is much simpler. To tell a story. For her, acting means stepping beyond herself and making someone else’s world feel real.
“It’s to be able to have the responsibility to give the voiceless a voice. To step into someone else’s shoes and world and carry everything that character carries.”
Because when you tell someone else’s story, you have to honour it.
Plot twist: rejection
The glam version of acting doesn’t always include the rejection. A few years ago, Minke went through almost 20 auditions. Only one resulted in a yes.
It could have knocked her confidence, but instead taught her that rejection isn’t necessarily personal. “In most cases, it’s not because you’re not good enough or anything personal. They just have someone else in mind or another person’s appearance fits the part better.”
For Minke, the real question is what happens when the phones stop ringing. “Who are you when you get rejected from a role? Who are you when there is no work coming through?” Her answer? Stay close to family, faith and the people who keep her grounded – and learn to rest. “Resting is part of the process, not the reward.”
Still only the beginning
And forward Minke is certainly moving.
There are challenging characters on her wish list, plenty of dream collabs, and a particular soft spot for thrillers … especially if she gets to do her own stunts.
Then there’s skydiving, a dream she’s had since she was 16. Because apparently playing a murderer wasn’t quite enough adrenaline.
But right now, Minke is learning to appreciate the chapter she’s in. If it had a title, it would be Steady.
Perhaps that’s the most refreshing thing about her. For someone whose job is to live so many different lives, she seems happiest surrounded by the people she loves, kitten Ditto included, while making time to recharge and remembering she doesn’t have to rush.
Her advice to the shy teenager who once wondered where her voice might take her? “Breathe. This is all worth it. Trust yourself and the work you put in. And never forget to enjoy where you are. This is only the start.”
We’d say she has that part exactly right. Because if this really is only the beginning, the next act should be a good one. Catch Minke as Shani Brink in season two of Reënboogrant, premiering on 28 August 28 at 6.30pm on kykNET (DStv channel 144).
Text: RIALIEN FURSTENBERG. Image: THE FEMME COLLECTIVE – CELESTE CILLIERS PHOTOGRAPHY, SHENÉ VYVER AND NEW ME BY MARLIÉ
