Lea Vivier (born 15 January 1992) is a South African actress, best known for her leading role in the

Showmax Showmax is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service that launched in South Africa on 19 August 2015. Its majority owner is MultiChoice, which owns 70% of the Showmax group, while American conglomerate NBCUniversal owns 3 ...

original series ''Dam'' (2021) and her appearances in the films ''The Day We Didn't Meet'' (2021) and ''Wonderlus'' (2017).

Early life and education

Born in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa, to drama teacher Adri Troksie Vivier and senior advocate Pieter De Bruin Vivier, Lea Vivier was one of four siblings. Her elder sister,

Trix Vivier Trix Vivier (born 28 June 1988) is a South African film, television, and theater actress, who is known for portraying the role of Flea van Jaarsveld in the 2019 television series '' Trackers'', for which she gained prominence and international r ...

, is also an actress, known for her role in the 2019 television series ''Trackers'' adapted from the

Deon Meyer Deon Godfrey Meyer is a South African thriller novelist, writing primarily in Afrikaans. His works have been translated into 28 languages. He has also written numerous scripts for television and film. Early life and education Deon Meyer was ...

novel. While at the Waterfront Theatre School studying classical ballet, contemporary dance, and drama, Vivier completed a year of Speech and Drama training through

Trinity College London Trinity College London (TCL) is an examination board based in London, United Kingdom which offers graded and diploma qualifications across a range of disciplines in the performing arts and English language learning and teaching. Trinity Colleg ...

. After completing her matric qualification at Jan van Riebeeck High School, Vivier travelled to Chile, where she became fluent in Spanish. After her return to South Africa, she spent a year at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

studying towards her Bachelor of Arts. She thereafter transferred to

Rhodes University Rhodes University () is a public research university located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the prov ...

, in Makhanda (Grahamstown), to complete her degree, triple majoring in English Literature, Drama, and Afrikaans Dutch Studies in 2015.

Career

Though she appeared in a number of theatre productions, some of which featured at the

National Arts Festival The National Arts Festival (NAF) is an annual festival of performing arts in Makhanda, South Africa. It is the largest arts festival on the African continent and one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world by visitor numbers. The ...

, Vivier's screen acting career began with her role in the film ''Wonderlus'', directed by Johan Cronje. Vivier's performance as the unnamed waitress earned her the Best Actress award at the

Silwerskerm Film Festival The Silwerskerm Film Festival (), usually called the Silwerskerm Fees, is a film festival held annually in Camps Bay, South Africa. The festival has been held every August since 2010 and is one of the only Afrikaans film festivals in the world. ...

in 2017 and a nomination for Best Actress in the Winter Film Awards. The following year, she played the role of Louisa in the short film ''Runner,'' for which she won Best Actress in a Short Film at the Five Continents International Film Festival Award in April 2018. She has since she appeared in a number of television series and serials, including ''Mense Mense'', ''Die Spreeus,'' ''Fynskrif,'' ''

Binnelanders ''Binnelanders'' (previously ''Binneland'' and ''Binneland Sub Judice'') is a South African Afrikaans soap opera. It is set in and around the fictional private hospital, Binneland Kliniek, in Pretoria, and the storyline follows the trials, trau ...

'', and '' The Girl from St Agnes''. In 2021, Vivier took the leading roles in the Showmax series ''Dam'' and Johan Cronje's ''The Day We Didn't Meet''. Most recently, Vivier performed as Madeline Evans in M-Net's ''Legacy'', and the Netflix series ''Ludik'' and ''

Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known as in Japan, is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...

''.

Personal life

In 2023, she married Andre Wilkens just outside

Greyton Greyton is a small town in the Overberg area in the Western Cape, South Africa. Early history Before Greyton was established in 1854, the verdant plains and forested ravines of the area were home to the Hessequas Khoikhoi tribe who had their k ...

in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

. The couple have since settled in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Filmography

Film Television

Awards

2018 Best Lead Actress in a Short Film at the Five Continents International Film Festival 2017 Best Actress at the

References

External links

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10 questions to Lea Vivier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vivier, Lea Living people South African television actresses South African film actresses Actors from Cape Town South African expatriates in Portugal Alumni of Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck 1992 births