Leeanda Antoinette Reddy is a South African

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. She is best known for her roles in the popular series ''Cape Town'', '' Scandal!'' and ''

Isidingo ''Isidingo'' was a South African soap opera, with dialogue mostly in English and isiXhosa. The series premiered on SABC 3 in July 1998 and was broadcast evenings on SABC 3 from Monday to Friday at 19:00. Until 2001 it was titled ''Isidingo: The ...

''.

Personal life

She was born in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, South Africa and is of Indian origin, including

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

ancestry. She spent her childhood in Chatsworth and Phoenix in Durban. She completed her education at Crystal Point Secondary school, then got her BA degree in Speech and Drama at the

University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN; , ) is a public research university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University ...

in Durban. She is married to her longtime partner Clive Chetty. The couple has two sons.

Career

She started her acting career with theater productions in several theaters in South Africa such as Opera and Loft theaters, Market and Civic theaters, Durban playhouse, Sneddon, and Grahamstown. Later, her talent was recognized by The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) where she was invited to present a solo play ''At the Edge''. The play was performed at the International Theater Festival in New Delhi, India, in 2000. The role became her breakthrough in acting career. Leeanda has performed in South Africa, India, and Scotland. Meanwhile, she joined the television and hosted the magazine show 'Big City'. Then she was shifted to hosting 'Citylife'. In 2005, she was invited to play the role, 'Vanashree Devan', on the eTV television soapie '' Scandal!''. She played the role until 2006 and then joined with the serial ''Backstage'' on eTV. In 2013, she performed with Naomi Watts in the film ''Diana''. In 2016, she acted in the crime thriller television serial ''Cape Town'' and played the role 'Kumari Nayar'. In 2017, she appeared in the international film ''The Dark Tower'', and played the role 'Dr. Weizak' along with renowned actor

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba Order of the British Empire, OBE ( ; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor and musician. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three BAFTA Awards and six Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards. He w ...

. In 2008, she acted with Leon Schuster in popular comedy film '' Mr. Bones 2: Back from the Past''. She is also the co-founder of film production company 'Mustard Seed Productions' founded in 2008 with her friend, Krijay Govender. In 2012, she starred in the play ''iNkaba'' as 'Prevashnee'. In 2015, she joined the cast of popular soapie ''

'' and played the popular role 'Priya Kumar'. In 2016, she was nominated for the SAFTA's Best Lead Actress award. Apart from acting, she is also a writer, director, producer of stage productions where she was featured in the VW Toureg campaign, Woolworth's billboard, print, billboard TVC campaigns, and the Budget Insurance television infomercials. Meanwhile, she became a stand-up comedian that performed in both international and local theaters. In stage, she has performed comedy roles including: 'Lady Macbeth' in Stephen Gurney's ''Macbeth'', 'Viola' in ''Ralph'', and 'Titania' in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. She also played thirty different characters in a one-woman show titled ''Ronnie Govender''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reddy, Leeanda Living people South African television actresses South African stage actresses South African film actresses Actresses from Durban Year of birth missing (living people) South African people of Indian descent South African women comedians South African stand-up comedians South African people of Telugu descent