Leroy Gopal (born 6 July 1979), is a

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

-born

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

and a

voice artist Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

. He is best known for his roles in the films ''Yellow Card'' and ''Strike Back''.

Personal life

He was born on 6 July 1979 in Harare, Zimbabwe. When Gopal was 14 years old, his father died. He has one elder sister, Claudia Gopal Muvuti is the former title holder of the Iron Woman Zimbabwe.. He completed primary education from Blackiston Primary School and then secondary education from Gateway High School and Prince Edward Senior School. He has a BA (Honors) degree in Live Performance and Motion Picture from

AFDA, The School for the Creative Economy AFDA is a private Higher Education institution that offers courses in film, television, performance, business innovation and technology, radio and podcasting. It has campuses located in Auckland Park, Johannesburg; Observatory, Cape Town; Dur ...

. He is one of two students to ever win the prestigious M-NET Student Of The Year award 2003 and 2004 consecutively. Gopal is married to South African, Keletso Molefe since 2017. The couple has three children: Kiki Leroy Gopal, Didi Tadiwa, and Mimi Naima.

Career

In 2000, he made his maiden cinema appearance with the film ''Yellow Card'' where he played the lead role of soccer player 'Tiyane Tsumba'. From 2006 to 2007, he played the role 'Thabang Ngema' on the

SABC 3 SABC 3 (stylised as S3) is a South African free-to-air public television network owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It carries programming in English and, few in other South African languages. It has a number of its own re ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

''One Way'' which became highly popular. In 2012, he appeared in

SABC 1 SABC 1 is a South African public television network operated by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) which carries programming in English and Nguni. It was created in 1996, after the SABC restructured its television channels. SABC 1 ...

's sitcom, ''Ses'Top La'' in the role as 'Oleshe'. In 2013, he won the award for the Best Actor in a comedy role at

South African Film and Television Awards South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

for this role. With the success and established as an accomplished actor, he was hired to act in the TV series ''Mzansi Love: Kasi Style'' in 2013. His role was a Kenyan man named 'Joshua Pembe'. He also acted in the short ''Through the Flight of a feather'' which was screened at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

as well. In the same year, he acted in the film ''Seal Team 8'' as a Congolese dictator 'Tonga'. Then he made the appearance on TV series ''Mzansi Magic'' with the role 'Abomama' which became a popular character throughout the series. In 2014, he played in the SABC1 political series ''Ihawu le Sizwe''. He later founded 'Creation Station Entertainment Company'. Leroy also directed a Zimbabwean music video for the singer

Audius Mtawarira Audius Tonderai Mtawarira (born in Chimbumu, Guruve District, Guruve, Zimbabwe, 1977) is a Zimbabwean singer-songwriter and record producer, who often works Mononymous person, mononymously as Audius. From 1996 to 2012 he lived in Australia. At t ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gopal, Leroy Living people 21st-century Zimbabwean male actors 1979 births Zimbabwean male film actors South African male actors