Lesley-Ann Brandt (born 2 December 1981) is a South African actress. 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
''Spartacus'' is a set of Starz television series that focuses on 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. DeKnight and Ro ...
in the series ''
Spartacus: Blood and Sand''. From 2016 to 2021, she played the role of
Mazikeen
Mazikeen is a character who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is one of the lilim, a child of Lilith. She first appeared in ''The Sandman'' (vol. 2) #22 (December 1990), and was created by Neil Gaiman and Kelley Jones. H ...
on the television series ''
Lucifer.''
Early life
Born in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
,
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 ...
, Brandt is
Cape Coloured
Cape Coloureds () are a South African ethnic group consisted primarily of persons of mixed race and Khoisan descent. Although Coloureds form a minority group within South Africa, they are the predominant population group in the Western Cape.
...
of
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
,
Dutch, and
Spanish descent. She is a fluent
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
speaker and lists
yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
,
hockey, and baseball among her interests.
In South Africa, she played competitive field hockey.
In 1999, Brandt immigrated to
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, New Zealand, with her parents and her younger brother Brian Brandt. 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 in 2008.
Career
Brandt's first significant acting role was in the New Zealand television series ''
Diplomatic Immunity''. Brandt has appeared in guest roles on the New Zealand hospital
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 ...
, ''
Shortland Street
''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...
'', and ''
This Is Not My Life'', a
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
series set in the 2020s in the fictional town of Waimoana.
Brandt had a role as Naevia in the first season ''
Spartacus: Blood and Sand'' and the prequel miniseries ''
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena''. She originally auditioned for the role of Sura but auditioned for the role of Naevia instead.
Brandt did not return due to production delays following the death of
Andy Whitfield
Andrew Whitfield (17 October 1971 – 11 September 2011) was a Welsh actor. He was best known for his leading role in the Starz television series '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand''.
Early life and career
Whitfield and his family came to live in B ...
, and she was replaced by
Cynthia Addai-Robinson. Brandt had a role in the New Zealand coming-of-age feature film ''The Hopes & Dreams of Gazza Snell'' about the victim of a
kart racing accident, was filmed in
Howick Howick may refer to:
Places
*Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa
**Howick Falls
* Howick, Lancashire, a small hamlet (Howick Cross) and former civil parish in England
*Howick, New Zealand
**Howick Historical Village
**Howick (New Zealand electo ...
, a suburb of East Auckland.
Brandt guest starred in the ''
CSI: NY
''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...
'' episodes "Smooth Criminal" and "Food for Thought". Brandt was featured in the film ''InSight'' in which she plays nurse Valerie Khoury. In May 2010, Brandt guest starred on ''
Legend of the Seeker
''Legend of the Seeker'' is an American television series created by Sam Raimi, based on the fantasy novel series ''The Sword of Truth'' by Terry Goodkind. Distributed in U.S. by Disney-ABC Domestic Television, ABC Studios produced the series ...
'', another Rob Tapert/
Sam Raimi
Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1 ...
production filmed in New Zealand. She appeared in the second-season finale "Tears" in the role of Sister Thea.
In 2011, she guest appeared in TNT's ''
Memphis Beat
''Memphis Beat'' is an American crime comedy-drama television series created by Joshua Harto and Liz W. Garcia that aired on TNT from June 22, 2010 to August 16, 2011, with a total of 20 episodes spanning two seasons. It was produced by Smokeho ...
'', which was followed by a lead role as Cassie in
Syfy
Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
's highest rated original feature for 2011, ''
Zombie Apocalypse'', which also starred
Ving Rhames and
Taryn Manning
Taryn Manning is an American actress and singer. She is best known for portraying Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett in the Netflix original series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), Cherry in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2010), Nola in ''Hus ...
. She appeared in the feature film ''
Drift
Drift or Drifts may refer to:
Geography
* Drift or ford (crossing) of a river
* Drift, Kentucky, unincorporated community in the United States
* In Cornwall, England:
** Drift, Cornwall, village
** Drift Reservoir, associated with the village
...
'' with
Sam Worthington and
Xavier Samuel
Xavier Samuel (born 10 December 1983) is an Australian film and theatre actor. He has appeared in leading roles in the feature films '' Adore'', ''September'', ''Further We Search'', ''Newcastle'', '' The Loved Ones'', ''Frankenstein'', ''A Fe ...
, and ''
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
'' starring ''CSI: NY'' star
Carmine Giovinazzo
Carmine Dominick Giovinazzo ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American actor, writer, painter and musician, known for his role as Danny Messer, Detective Danny Messer in ''CSI: NY''.
Early life
Giovinazzo was born and raised in the Port Richmond, ...
.
In 2013, she had a recurring role in the third season of ''
Single Ladies'' as Naomi Cox. In 2014, she guest starred as
Larissa Diaz/Copperhead on ''
Gotham'', and appeared as the recurring character Lamia in ''
The Librarians''. In 2015, she won the role of
Maze
A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lea ...
in the
FOX
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
television series ''
Lucifer''. She replaced actress
Lina Esco
Lina Esco is an American actress, producer, director and activist. She gained recognition in 2007 for portraying Jimmy Smits' character's daughter in the CBS television drama ''Cane''. Esco has also performed in films, including ''London'' (2005 ...
and Brandt had reportedly tested for the role and was reconsidered afterward.
Brandt is based in Los Angeles.
Personal life
Brandt married her boyfriend of six years, actor
Chris Payne Gilbert
Chris Payne Gilbert is an American actor. He is best known for his television role as Todd on the TBS sitcom '' 10 Items or Less'' (2006–2009).
He also appeared in episodes of television series ''Dexter'', ''Burn Notice'', ''Moonlight'', '' ...
, in 2015. The couple's first child, son Kingston Payne Brandt-Gilbert, was born in July 2017.
Filmography
Film
Television
Music videos
Podcasts
References
External links
*
*
Lesley-Ann Brandt answers fan questions - February 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandt, Lesley-Ann
1981 births
Living people
Actresses from Cape Town
South African people of German descent
South African people of Indian descent
South African people of Dutch descent
South African people of Spanish descent
South African television actresses
South African film actresses
20th-century South African actresses
21st-century South African actresses
South African emigrants to New Zealand
Cape Coloureds