Lesley-Ann Brandt
Encyclopedia
Lesley-Ann Brandt is a South African-born
actress who is based in Auckland
, New Zealand
, and Los Angeles
, United States
. Brandt has acted in a number of New Zealand television series and first came to international notice with her role as a slave girl Naevia in the series Spartacus: Blood and Sand
.
, South Africa
, she is a fluent Afrikaans
speaker. and lists Yoga
, hockey
and baseball
amongst her interests. In South Africa she played competitive field hockey
.. In 1999 Brandt emigrated to Auckland
, New Zealand
, with her parents and younger brother.
Lesley-Ann Brandt started work in retail sales in Auckland before securing work as an Information Technology recruitment consultant. Following some modelling work she was cast in a number of New Zealand television advertisements. She studied acting and was trained in the Meisner technique
, an improvisational approach to character development, in 2008..
. As well as her lead role in Diplomatic Immunity, Brandt has appeared in guest roles on the New Zealand hospital based soap opera
series Shortland Street
and This Is Not My Life
, a science fiction
series set in the 2020s in the fictional town of Waimoana.
She originally auditioned for the role of 'Sura' in Spartacus: Blood and Sand
but the casting director suggested to audition for the role of 'Naevia' instead. She worked with actors John Hannah
, Lucy Lawless
, Peter Mensah
and producers Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi
. Her role as the slave girl Naevia in the series Spartacus: Blood and Sand led to a part in the Spartacus 'Prequel' Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
. and the New Zealand 'coming of age' feature film The Hopes & Dreams of Gazza Snell. about the victim of a kart racing
accident filmed in Howick
, a suburb of East Auckland
.
Brandt is also featuring in a new film InSight in which she plays a nurse called Valerie Khoury. In May 2010 Brandt guest starred on Legend of the Seeker
, another Rob Tapert / Sam Raimi
produced show which was filmed in New Zealand
(2009). She appeared in the Season 2 season finale Episode 22 "Tears" in the role of Sister Thea.
Brandt guest starred on CSI: NY
: Smooth Criminal and Food for Thought, but has not renewed her contract for the second season of Spartacus in 2011.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
actress who is based in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Brandt has acted in a number of New Zealand television series and first came to international notice with her role as a slave girl Naevia in the series Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Spartacus: Blood and Sand is a Starz television series that premiered on January 22, 2010. The series is inspired by the historical figure of Spartacus , a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BC led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Executive producers Steven S...
.
Early life
Born in Cape TownCape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, she is a fluent Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
speaker. and lists Yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
, hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
amongst her interests. In South Africa she played competitive field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
.. In 1999 Brandt emigrated to Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, with her parents and younger brother.
Lesley-Ann Brandt started work in retail sales in Auckland before securing work as an Information Technology recruitment consultant. Following some modelling work she was cast in a number of New Zealand television advertisements. She studied acting and was trained in the Meisner technique
Meisner technique
The Meisner technique is an acting technique developed by the American theatre practitioner Sanford Meisner.Meisner developed this technique after working with Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler at the Group Theatre and as head of the acting program at New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse and...
, an improvisational approach to character development, in 2008..
Career
Brandt's first significant acting role was in the New Zealand television series Diplomatic ImmunityDiplomatic Immunity (New Zealand TV series)
Diplomatic Immunity is a New Zealand comedy that follows the misadventures at the consulate of The Most Royal Kingdom of Feausi and a fallen New Zealand Foreign Affairs high-flier who has been sent in to straighten out the consulate staff...
. As well as her lead role in Diplomatic Immunity, Brandt has appeared in guest roles on the New Zealand hospital based soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
series Shortland Street
Shortland Street
Shortland Street is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera, first broadcast on Television New Zealand's TV2 on 25 May 1992. It is the country's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously for over 4500 episodes and 19 years, and is one of the most watched television programs in...
and This Is Not My Life
This Is Not My Life
This Is Not My Life is a 2010 New Zealand television mystery thriller which originally aired on Television New Zealand's TV ONE channel on Thursday nights....
, a science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series set in the 2020s in the fictional town of Waimoana.
She originally auditioned for the role of 'Sura' in Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Spartacus: Blood and Sand is a Starz television series that premiered on January 22, 2010. The series is inspired by the historical figure of Spartacus , a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BC led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Executive producers Steven S...
but the casting director suggested to audition for the role of 'Naevia' instead. She worked with actors John Hannah
John Hannah (actor)
John David Hannah is a Scottish actor of film and television. He has appeared in Stephen Sommers' Mummy Series, Richard Curtis' Four Weddings and a Funeral and Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow...
, Lucy Lawless
Lucy Lawless
Lucy Lawless, MNZM is a New Zealander actress and singer best known for playing the title character of the internationally successful television series Xena: Warrior Princess....
, Peter Mensah
Peter Mensah
Peter Mensah , is an English/Ghanaian actor, best known for his roles in Tears of the Sun and 300, and more recently on the Starz original series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.-Early life:Mensah comes from an academic family...
and producers Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
. Her role as the slave girl Naevia in the series Spartacus: Blood and Sand led to a part in the Spartacus 'Prequel' Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena is a Starz television mini-series and prequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand, which premiered January 21, 2011. The series follows the character Gannicus , the first gladiator to become Champion of Capua representing Lentulus Batiatus...
. and the New Zealand 'coming of age' feature film The Hopes & Dreams of Gazza Snell. about the victim of a kart racing
Kart racing
Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motorsport with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits...
accident filmed in Howick
Howick, New Zealand
Howick is an eastern suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, forming part of what is sometimes called East Auckland. Due to the relatively numerous remaining heritage buildings and other historical remnants from its early European settlement past, it has been called "perhaps Auckland's most historically...
, a suburb of East Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
.
Brandt is also featuring in a new film InSight in which she plays a nurse called Valerie Khoury. In May 2010 Brandt guest starred on Legend of the Seeker
Legend of the Seeker
Legend of the Seeker is a television series based on The Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind. Distributed in U.S. by Disney-ABC Domestic Television, ABC Studios produced the series, which was its first foray into broadcast syndication, with Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Joshua Donen, Ned Nalle and...
, another Rob Tapert / Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
produced show which was filmed in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
(2009). She appeared in the Season 2 season finale Episode 22 "Tears" in the role of Sister Thea.
Brandt guest starred on CSI: NY
CSI: NY
CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
: Smooth Criminal and Food for Thought, but has not renewed her contract for the second season of Spartacus in 2011.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Shortland Street Shortland Street Shortland Street is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera, first broadcast on Television New Zealand's TV2 on 25 May 1992. It is the country's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously for over 4500 episodes and 19 years, and is one of the most watched television programs in... |
Sonia | Episode: "16.178" |
| 2009 | Diplomatic Immunity Diplomatic Immunity (New Zealand TV series) Diplomatic Immunity is a New Zealand comedy that follows the misadventures at the consulate of The Most Royal Kingdom of Feausi and a fallen New Zealand Foreign Affairs high-flier who has been sent in to straighten out the consulate staff... |
Leilani Fa'auigaese | 13 episodes |
| 2010 | Spartacus: Blood and Sand Spartacus: Blood and Sand Spartacus: Blood and Sand is a Starz television series that premiered on January 22, 2010. The series is inspired by the historical figure of Spartacus , a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BC led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Executive producers Steven S... |
Naevia | 11 episodes |
| 2010 | Legend of the Seeker Legend of the Seeker Legend of the Seeker is a television series based on The Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind. Distributed in U.S. by Disney-ABC Domestic Television, ABC Studios produced the series, which was its first foray into broadcast syndication, with Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Joshua Donen, Ned Nalle and... |
Sister Thea | Episode: "Tears" |
| 2010 | Sharon | ||
| 2010 | This Is Not My Life This Is Not My Life This Is Not My Life is a 2010 New Zealand television mystery thriller which originally aired on Television New Zealand's TV ONE channel on Thursday nights.... |
WAI Field Reporter / Hine | Episode: "1.7" Episode: "1.10" |
| 2011 | Chuck Chuck (TV series) Chuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central... |
Fatima Tazi | Episode: "Chuck Versus the Seduction Chuck Versus the Seduction "Chuck Versus the Seduction" is the second episode of Season 2 of the U.S. television series Chuck, first airing October 6, 2008. Chuck must go undercover to retrieve the Cipher from Sasha Banachek , known as the Black Widow... " |
| 2011 | Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Spartacus: Gods of the Arena is a Starz television mini-series and prequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand, which premiered January 21, 2011. The series follows the character Gannicus , the first gladiator to become Champion of Capua representing Lentulus Batiatus... |
Naevia | 6 episodes |
| 2011 | CSI: NY CSI: NY CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes... |
Camille Jordanson | Episode: "Smooth Criminal" Episode: "Food for Thought" |
| 2011 | InSight | Valerie Khoury | |
| 2011 | Memphis Beat Memphis Beat Memphis Beat is an American drama series that debuted on TNT on June 22, 2010 and ended on August 16, 2011. Memphis Beat was officially canceled on October 14, 2011.-Overview:... |
Adriana | Episode: "The Things We Carry" |
| 2011 | Duke | Violet | Post-production |
| 2011 | Zombie Apocalypse Zombie Apocalypse (film) Zombie Apocalypse is a film by Syfy and The Asylum starring Ving Rhames, Gary Weeks, Johnny Pacar, Robert Blanche, Anya Monzikova, Lesley-Ann Brandt and Taryn Manning... |
Cassie | TV film |
| 2012 | Angela Barry | Post-production | |
| 2012 | Drift | Lani | Post-production |
| Year | Band | Title | Character | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Battle Circus Battle Circus Battle Circus is a 1953 film directed by Richard Brooks, who also wrote the screenplay. It stars Humphrey Bogart and June Allyson, and costars Keenan Wynn and Robert Keith.The film is set in Korea during the Korean War... |
"Love In A Fallout Shelter" | Lead Female | Anton Steel |
| 2007 | Nesian Mystik Nesian Mystik Nesian Mystik was a New Zealand Hip-Hop/R&B group formed in 1999. Their cultural backgrounds unite a remarkable diversity of Polynesia by bringing together Cook Island, Tongan, Samoan and Maori ancestry... |
"R.S.V.P." | Lead Female | Luke Sharpe |