Born and bred in Pretoria, cinematographer, actor, model, colourist and film editor,
Shaun Smit was made for the entertainment industry.
If you are a fan of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, you might even recognise him as Rocky, from the 2014 to 2015 production that was showcased at Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre.
He started his professional acting career in Henry Mylne’s theatre production of Vaselientjie at the Aardklop and Woordfees festivals and has been making his mark in the entertainment industry ever since. He has been working behind the camera the last few years, but his first love will always be acting.
Growing up, the 28-year-old’s family moved all over the capital city and he attended Laerskool Hermanstad, Laerskool Wonderboom, Laerskool Danie Malan, Hoërskool Pretoria-Noord, Hoërskool Waterkloof and Hoërskool Wonderboom.
After finishing matric he enrolled at the University of Technology to study Musical Theatre, but soon found his way to Cape Town and the rest, as they say, is history.
The Pretorian will be seen during the month of March in a brand new Afrikaans movie, Moffie. Yes, the name is a bit risqué but the film promises brilliance and touches on some serious topics that need some discussion. But don’t let the name fool you. It’s not just a film about being gay. It’s a film with tremendous power that aims to de-activate the stigma surrounding the word ‘moffie’. It’s intentionally chosen and is used big and boldly on the movie poster to help the word lose its power.
The movie tells the story of Nicholas Van der Swart who has long known he is different. There is something shameful and unacceptable in him that must stay hidden, denied even. But South Africa’s minority government is embroiled in conflict at the Angolian border and all young white men over 16 must serve two years of compulsory military service to defend the Apartheid regime and its culture of toxic racist machismo. The ‘black danger’ is the real and present threat; what is wrong with Nicholas and others like him can be rooted out, treated and cured like a cancer. But just when fear pushes Nicholas to accept unspeakable horrors in the hopes of staying invisible, a tender relationship with another recruit becomes as dangerous for them both as any enemy fire.
Shaun first found out about the movie through his agent and just knew he had to audition. After a year of auditions for various roles, call-backs and chemistry reads, he finally got cast in the role of Dewald Van der Merwe. “I actually fell in love with the character, with his good and worse character traits. Empathy with your character is in my view one of the easiest ways to portray a believable character,” Shaun says.
To prepare for his role, the talented actor spent weeks figuring out who Dewald was: his history, his dreams, what made him sad, on which side he slept better, how he felt about other people. “I tried to picture him as realistically as possible in my mind. I also did research and spoke to people who were in the army to get as much information about the period in South Africa’s history as possible,” Shaun adds.
Filming took about six weeks, says Shaun but it felt more like a lifetime when comparing the weight of the story and the lifelong friendships that were made.
He describes the movie as “beautiful, heartbreaking, touching, honest and important.”
The film has been shown internationally in England, North-America, Greece, and Morocco and Shaun says it has reached audiences he’s never even dreamt about.
His favourite movie premiere was at the Venice International Film Festival. “A group of us attended and to see the movie’s name in all the festival programmes was amazing. Festivalgoers saw the word ‘moffie’ and had so many questions and I could speak with such pride about the film. If it wasn’t for all the photos and videos on my phone I sometimes think it didn’t happen,” he says.
“The border war and what happened during that specific time period is something that often gets overlooked – those that were there don’t want to speak about it. The movie is for everyone in our country. It will help you better understand the time, your parents, and grandparents; no matter which side of the gun they stood. For me personally, it’s a work of art, frame to frame,” Shaun says.
He further explains the many themes the film touches: social systems and the effect its having on lives, the army, love, oppression, life, death, shock, sadness, what it takes to be a man, family’s influence in your life, friends and more.
Whether the people of South Africa will be ready for a movie like Moffie, Shaun is adamant. “Without a doubt. It’s time,” he says.
Being an openly gay man himself, Shaun had to endure a lot of criticism over the years. “Over the years it’s been a very difficult and sad experience. Never mind the negative comments from others, but even more so I had to accept myself for who and what Shaun is,” he explains.
Any advice for others being criticised or judged for their sexual orientation? “If I can look you in the eye I would say to immediately stop caring what others say about you. There is nothing wrong with you, and you are not going to hell. But remember, don’t let yourself be labeled. Be who you want to be, not just in what you wear or how you style your hair, but also in who you choose to love. The people that criticise you will get fewer and you will only get stronger. Also remember that certain things you love now might just be because of your surroundings, school, TV-programmes you watch, etc. Always be open to get to know yourself better,” he says.
One look at him and it’s easy to see why he’s also a successful model. He was part of campaigns for Men’s Health, Calvin Klein and Uber. So how does he stay in such good shape? “Balance, balance, balance. You don’t have to eat a carrot a day and exercise for three hours – it will make your soul unhappy, and that, in turn, will affect your physical health. Don’t eat McDonalds every day but after a Saturday night party and you’re in the mood for a McFeast, go for it. You don’t have to spend every day in the gym to stay active.”
When Shaun is not busy working, he loves to listen to music, make music, discover new music, gym with music, drink wine and enjoy music, find old music and share music with friends. Yes, he loves music.
He might be only 28 years old but Shaun knows how to work hard. Anything he cannot do? “Well, I can’t cook. But slowly but surely I am learning the ways of the stove. I just sometimes get too creative and then the food is very pretty but doesn’t taste too great. I usually get Kauai or get food wherever I’m shooting on the day,” he laughs.
