Bio
Lelia Etsebeth is a South African actress best known for her film roles as Liezel du Plessis in the Bakgat! trilogy and as Maggie in the thriller Wolwedans in die Skemer, in 2012.
In Bakgat! she plays an innocent blonde who dreams about getting married. This character is in stark contrast with the one Lelia portrayed in Wolwedans in die Skemer, in which she delivers a performance as a shy, schizophrenic girl with dark secrets.
In 2011 Lelia appeared as Saskia, a gutsy hair stylist, in the film Superhelde (Superheroes). She also played the leading role in the motion picture 'n Saak van Geloof (A Matter of Faith) and was one of the pranksters in the film, Ek Joke Net! (I'm Only Joking).
Television viewers got to know Lelia in her role as 18-year-old Lucy – a drug addicted teenager who blames her father for her mother's death – in the SABC2 drama series Erfsondes (Sins of Our Fathers).
She also starred in the popular series Getroud met Rugby (Married to Rugby) and in the SABC3 comedy talk show Last Say on Sunday. She could also be seen as the character Magriet van der Merwe in the kykNET period drama television series Donkerland, in 2013.
Lelia loves working in front of the camera, yet remains passionate about theatre. From 2009 to 2012 she toured the country as one of the lead characters in the acclaimed South African playwright Reza de Wet's drama Mis (Mist).
In 2012 she shared the stage with South African theatre legends Tobie Cronjé and Hannes Muller in the farce My Vrou se Man se Vrou (My Wife's Husband's Wife).
Radio listeners will recognise Lelia's voice as the character Riekie – whom she portrayed in the RSG radio soap, Susters en Skandes (Sisters and Scandals). She also voiced Maggie in the radio version of Wolwedans in die Skemer and was one of the leading characters in the radio drama Die Huis van Bernarda Alba (Bernarda Alba's House).
Lelia was part of the cast of Molly en Wors: Die Movie (Molly and Wors: The Movie) which screened in cinemas in June 2013. She plays the role of an air hostess named Bokkie Botha.
She also appears in a sitcom for kykNET named Vir Beter of Baie Beter (For Better or Much Better) in which she plays the same character as in Molly en Wors: Die Movie.
Apart from her work as an actress, Lelia is also utilising her talents as casting director for feature films. She was in charge of the casting of, among others, the popular film Roepman (Stargazer), the box office hits Hoofmeisie (Head Girl) and Wolwedans in die Skemer (Wolves Dancing at dDusk) and the critically acclaimed Verraaiers (Traitors).
When she is not in front or behind the camera, on stage or behind the microphone, Lelia is a part-time student. In 2012 she received her Masters degree in Drama from the Tshwane University of Technology and went on to do a Doctorate in Philosophy at the University of Pretoria.
She also co-founded the training course Acting on Screen with frequent collaborator Jacques Bessenger, which offers training in camera acting.