The young and talented Caleb Payne.
A young South African actor has been nominated for an award in Hollywood and the family is now on a fundraising mission for him to attend the awards.
Caleb Payne (11), born in Stellenbosch and currently residing in the Winelands, has been nominated by the Young Artist Academy (YAA) in Hollywood in the Feature Film Leading Youth Artist category for his role as Jetmir in the movie Good Life. Jetmir is an Albanian refugee at the heart of the story.
The independently produced South African film Good Life (Netflix 2021) was directed by fellow South African Bonnie Rodini and filmed entirely in and around Cape Town during the 2020 winter lockdown. The film also stars award winning actors Erica Wessels, Sven Ruygrok, Robyn Scott and Jennifer Steyn.
Foreign films and actors from outside of the United States seldom feature at the YAA, making Caleb’s achievement even more remarkable. Caleb is no novice when it comes to big and small screen roles and has also appeared in The Kissing Booth 3 (Netflix 2021) and other work includes roles in successful television series such as Resident Evil (Netflix 2022), Warrior S1&2 (HBO 2018 ) and Lincoln (History 2021).
On stage he played the role of Eric in GWB Entertainment’s international touring production of Matilda the Musical that was presented in South Africa at the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town in 2018, just prior to the pandemic. Furthermore, this young actor has also been in local productions such as MNet’s successful series Lioness where he rubbed shoulders with South African acting elite such as Frank Rautenbach, Natasha Sutherland and Fiona Ramsay.
Caleb, who has comfortably connected with celebrity actors like Jacob Elordi, Ella Balinska, Grace van Dien and Daniel Sharman both on and off stage, will next be seen in the play Edward II, to be directed by the award-winning South African playwright, Marthinus Basson.
His passion for drama and acting began with commercials when he was just six years old, and today he is represented by management company, 11:11 Entertainment in Los Angeles.
The YYA award ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on Sunday October 2, 2022. Caleb has to make his own way there and to this end his parents have initiated a BackABuddy campaign to raise funds for him to attend the award ceremony. If you can contribute and support Caleb in getting him to attend the awards, make a donation at, www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/caleb-payne