Izel Bezuidenhout (born 25 November 1998) is a South African actress. She began her career as a child actress. She is best known to international audiences for her roles in the films '' Flatland'' (2019) and '' Wild is the Wind'' (2022).

Early life and education

Bezuidenhout is from Pretoria. Her father Hannes is a pastor. Her mother is Lucia. Bezuidenhout attended

Hoërskool Eldoraigne Hoërskool Eldoraigne is a public Afrikaans medium co-educational high school situated in the suburb of Eldoraigne in Centurion in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is one of the most academic schools in Gauteng and its learners are known ...

Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

. In 2012, she enrolled in a summer school programme at the

Royal Academy of Dance "Health and happiness" , predecessor = , successor = , formation = 1920 , extinction = , type = NGO , status = Registered charity , purpose = Examination board – dance education and training , headquarters = 36 Battersea SquareSW11 3 ...

in London. She later took a six-month acting course in New York.

Career

Bezuidenhout was eleven when she landed her first theatre role and fourteen when she was cast in her first film, the 2014 teen spy thriller ''Agent 2000: Die Laksman'' as Chante-Amoré Naudé. The following year, she played a younger version of Charlene Brouwer's titular character in the film ''

Dis ek, Anna ' is a 2015 South African Afrikaans-language drama produced by based on novels by (writing as ): ' (''It's me, Anna'') and ' (''The State vs ''). Set in modern-day South Africa, it tells the story of , who avenges years of abuse suffered at th ...

'' and made her television debut in ''Bloedbroers''. Bezuidenhout went on to have further film roles in ''Mignon Mossie van Wyk'' (2016), '' Bram Fischer'' and '' Vaselinetjie'' (both 2017). In 2018, she joined the cast of the long-running soap opera ''

7de Laan ''7de Laan'' is a South African Afrikaans soap opera created by Danie Odendaal and produced by Danie Odendaal Productions. The series focuses on the lives of residents staying in and around the community of 7de Laan (7th Avenue), in the suburb ...

'' as Kyla Welman. She later reprised her role in 2023. Bezuidenhout starred opposite Nicole Fortuin in the 2019 film '' Flatland'' directed by

Jenna Bass Jenna Cato Bass (born 1986) is a South African film director, photographer and writer. She has written stort stories under the name Constance Myburgh, one of which was shortlisted for the 2012 Caine Prize.Alison Flood'African Booker' shortlist o ...

, which screened at Berlinale and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). In 2021 and 2022, Bezuidenhout had roles in the third and fourth seasons of the kykNET crime anthology series ''

Spoorloos ''The Vanishing'' ( nl, Spoorloos, literally: "Traceless" or "Without a Trace") is a 1988 thriller film directed by George Sluizer, adapted from the novella ''The Golden Egg'' (1984) by Tim Krabbé. It stars Gene Bervoets as a man who searches ob ...

'', playing the recurring character Giselle in the former installment, titled ''Steynhof'', and the main character Emma Eloff opposite

Bobby van Jaarsveld Pieter van Jaarsveld, professionally known as Bobby van Jaarsveld, (born 6 March 1987) is a South African Afrikaans-language pop singer-songwriter and actor. Early life Van Jaarsveld, who was nicknamed "Bobby" after his father, was born on 6 Ma ...

in the latter installment, titled ''Die Eiland''. She had met van Jaarsveld when she was a child at one of his concerts. Also in 2022, she appeared in the Netflix film '' Wild is the Wind''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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Izel Bezuidenhout
at Stella Talent {{DEFAULTSORT:Bezuidenhout, Izel Living people 1998 births 21st-century South African actresses People from Centurion, Gauteng Actresses from Pretoria