Rajesh Gopie, is a South African

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n descent. He is best known for the roles in the television serials ''Stellenbosch'', ''Professionals'' and ''The World Unseen''.

Personal life

He was born in Durban, South Africa to an Indian family. He obtained his B.A. degree in English, Drama and History at the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu-N ...

. In July 2020, his aunt Dolly Singh died at the age of 76 by COVID-19 complications.

Career

After his graduation, he moved to England for a year and studied drama further. After his return to South Africa, he made the stage play ''Out of Bounds'' which deals with life and times of South African Indian families. After returning to South Africa, he joined with several stage plays such as ''Be Proud, Be Yourself'', ''Out of Bounds'' (1999), ''The Coolie Odyssey'' (2002), ''The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife'', ''The Chimp Project'', ''Romeo and Juliet'', ''Back to the Faith'', ''Mahatma vs Gandhi'', ''The Pinter Sketches'', ''The Wiz'' and ''Hamlet'' (2005). In the meantime, he worked as the playwright for the plays, ''Out of Bounds'' (1999), ''Be Proud'', ''Be Yourself Out of Bounds'' (2001), ''Mahatma-Madiba'', ''Marital Bliss'' and ''Too Close for Comfort''. In 2001, he won the award for the Best New Indigenous Script at

Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards The Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards are annual South African theatre awards focusing on professional productions staged in and around Cape Town. Awards are presented in 20 categories. History The Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards were originally known a ...

for the play ''Out of Bounds''. He also directed, written and played in the popular stage play ''The Coolie Odyssey'' in 2002. In 2013 he was awarded the Oppenheimer Scholarship where he went London to pursue post-graduate studies. Then he completed his master's degree in Actor training and coaching at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2014. In 2015, he became a theater director with the stage play ''Yerma'' which was written by Federico García Lorca. In 2017, he acted in the

South African Indian Indian South Africans are South Africans who descend from indentured labourers and free migrants who arrived from British India during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The majority live in and around the city of Durban, making it one of the l ...

comedy film ''

Keeping Up with the Kandasamys ''Keeping Up with the Kandasamys'' (or simply Kandasamys) is a 2017 South African Indian comedy film directed by Jayan Moodley, and was the first South African Indian film to be screened widely in theaters. It stars Jailoshini Naidoo, Maeshni Na ...

'' directed by Jayan Moodley. The film became the first South African Indian film to be screened widely in theaters. It stars

Jailoshini Naidoo ''Keeping Up with the Kandasamys'' (or simply Kandasamys) is a 2017 South African Indian comedy film directed by Jayan Moodley, and was the first South African Indian film to be screened widely in theaters. It stars Jailoshini Naidoo, Maeshni Na ...

, Maeshni Naicker, Madhushan Singh, and

Mishqah Parthiephal Mishqah Parthiephal (born 21 September 1989) is a South African actress, model and filmmaker. After her first film role in 2010, she primarily worked in television and advertising until 2015. Outside South Africa, she is best known for her role a ...

. The film later became the highest-grossing film in South Africa in 2017, and the highest grossing South African film worldwide in 2017. In 2018, he appeared in the South African Indian action crime film ''

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

''. He played the lead role of 'Aziz' in the film, which later received positive reviews. The film was also screened at the 62nd

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

and Africa in Motion Film Festival in October 2018.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

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Forgive me, asks actor Rajesh Gopie after stadium racist rant

Actor slammed for racist comments over Mabhida Stadium violence

Indian or not: You are a racist, Rajesh Gopie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gopie, Rajesh Living people South African people of Indian descent South African male film actors South African male television actors Actors from Durban Year of birth missing (living people)