SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE: South African actor Fana Mokoena, who has starred in movies such as Hotel Rwanda, Machine Gun Preacher, Black South-Easter and Safe House, plays the role of Thierry Umutoni in the international zombie blockbuster World War Z. The movie was directed by Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, The Kite Runner, Quantum of Solace).
Says Mokoena of one of the main reasons he was chosen for the role as Umutoni: “I worked with Marc on Machine Gun Preacher and we connected on one of those days that the script sometimes works on paper but doesn’t quite translate onto set. Marc, Gerard Butler and I spent half the day tweaking and reworking the scene and then spent the rest of the day shooting it. That day was quite crucial as it gave the director an insight into who I am as an actor. He went to my manager and said amazing things about me.’
Mokoena continues: “What I liked about working on World War Z with him is that he completely trusted me with the work. I’ve never had a director trust me like that. It gives you confidence, it makes you want to do more, it opens up your creativity. He told me to do what I thought was best. It was incredible that he gave me that freedom in a production of this scale.’
The actor comments: “I’ve gained so much knowledge from my role in World War Z. I’ve learnt about the process of making a big film like this. First of all, the script is very different when you have the money. When the script reads 1,000 zombies, there are actually 1,000 zombies.’
Mokoena says the knowledge that he gained from World War Z can be applied in a South African context, especially from a marketing point of view and about being kept well-informed about the entire process from start to finish.
Despite his experience as an actor, Mokoena said he was shaking like a leaf on the first day of shooting and attributes the calming of his nerves to actor Brad Pitt who engaged Mokoena in an hour-long conversation. “He took my mind off things. We talked about politics and his visits to South Africa. I think he dedicated that time to me because he could see that I was a bit nervous and it did an amazing thing for me for the rest of the shoot. He is wonderful. As an actor, the key thing for me was to see how he does it, that was my focus.’
Mokoena says he has a potentially huge role in the pipeline but can’t divulge more at this stage. In the meantime, he is advocating countrywide for the establishment of more South African filmmakers in all nine provinces by enlisting the help of the NVFV and other organisations dedicated to the upliftment of the local industry.
World War Z also stars, among others, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox and Daniella Kertesz. The movie is distributed by UIP and releases on 19 July nationally.
By Martie Bester
