Lesley-Ann Brandt to play SA character in ‘The Walking Dead’ spin-off

CAPE Town-born actress and producer Lesley-Ann Brandt is set to star as a lead character in the latest TV show, ‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’, which will premiere globally tomorrow. It premiers on the AMC channel in the USA and an SA release date is still to be confirmed.

The six episode series, is a spin-off from the globally popular TV show, ‘The Walking Dead’, and stars Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira.

‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live’ is an upcoming American post-apocalyptic horror drama television series created by Scott M. Gimple and Danai Gurira for AMC.

It is set after the conclusion of the original The Walking Dead series, with Andrew Lincoln, Danai Gurira and Pollyanna McIntosh reprising their roles.

Lesley-Ann plays Pearl Thorne, a South African character, giving the mom of one, the opportunity to portray her role in her South African accent for the first time. This is also her biggest role since playing out six seasons of Mazikeen in ‘Lucifer’.

Lesley-Ann was born and raised in Greenhaven in Cape Town and after matriculating at Pinelands High in Cape Town, emigrated with her family to NZ in 1999. She worked as a model and an actress in NZ, where she landed a lead role in the international TV series, Spartacus.

In 2010, she made the move to Hollywood and has since starred in various TV shows including Chuck, CSI: NY (alongside singer Ne-Yo) and Gotham before landing her big TV break as a regular cast member on the hit show, Lucifer.

Lesley-Ann told Weekend Argus: “When I auditioned for the show, I gave them options. “Originally the character was written to be French and I asked them about being open to other accents. So I gave them South African accent and I gave them a New Zealand accent; I think the South African accent resonated more with the character.

“I was thrilled when they liked the idea of her being South African because this is such a huge world, this Walking Dead world. It’s a show that’s been on air for 12 years, and it was a way for us to have a very South African character in it, South African mannerisms and to hear this very specific accent from Cape Town get on an international show like that, would be amazing and in a wonderful way for me to bring, you know, a little bit of a SA into my work.

“I’m really excited for people to see it actually. It’s been a lot of hard work”

The series airs on AMC channel in the USA and an SA release date is still to be confirmed.

Weekend Argus