Georgia Neves is a young and feisty South African who is following her creative dream. After matriculating in Pretoria and taking a gap year, Neves, who was 19 at the time, headed for LA to study acting at the New York Film Academy. Neves, now 24, graduated in August 2024 with a BFA from NYFA. Relishing her first year as a professional, she is exploring stage, film and comedy opportunities in LA. In LA, she says “people don’t sleep” and is a terrific fit for her to hone her skills:
TheCapeRobyn: Charlize Theron was 19, when she arrived in LA. How old were you and when did you graduate from New York Film Academy with a BFA?
Georgia Neves: When I arrived in LA I was 20 years old. I matriculated from Maragon Mooikloof in Pretoria, in 2019. I took a year off to figure some things out but during that time I still knew I wanted to pursue acting as a career, so I started taking classes at PALI [The Performing Arts Lifestyle Institute in Pretoria]. Then the pandemic hit and threw us all for a loop, but thankfully in 2021, I was able to travel to Los Angeles to start at NYFA in August 2021. I graduated in August 2024.
TCR: What spurred you on to make the “life-changing move to Los Angeles to follow” your dream of acting? Can you tell us about your origin story – growing up in South Africa, between White River, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria?
GN: To make that move, I think I just always knew deep inside there was more for me out there in the world. I love South Africa but I was lucky enough to be presented with the opportunity to go to the United States if I wanted to, and I knew I had to take it. I wanted to be right in the heart of it, and that’s exactly what LA is. I’m surrounded by creatives and constant moving pieces of people putting their work and art together and putting it out there for the world to see and it’s so inspiring. Growing up, I loved movies and TV – it always felt like an escape to me. I knew I wanted to be the person on screen, stepping into different lives and stories. I did my first play in grade 2 where I was a pig in Noah’s Ark and honestly it was a rush. I knew then the stage was where I felt most alive. I did a couple of plays all throughout school. I always got extremely nervous but it was still a feeling that deeply excited me and during those times it felt like nothing else mattered. No matter what role I was given, I always found the comedy in it and that flare for comedy just came to me naturally. My school’s drama department wasn’t the biggest, and we never really put on any huge productions, but there were definitely times I was on stage and that for sure just reminded me that that is where I wanted to be.
Most of my family is not really involved in the arts directly – though my dad’s dad [Josè Neves] was an actor. He is Portuguese and immigrated to South Africa. On my mom’s side of the family, they are all very creative. My grandmother Nanda was also an actress, mainly in theatre. My dad, Josè A Neves recently published a book: Walking Wild: Hiking the length of the Kruger National Park. It is a memoir of his epic 605 km journey through the Kruger, on foot. It is incredibly descriptive as he brings to life all the plants and animals he encountered in vivid detail.
So yes I guess there is for sure creativity and a connection to the arts in my family.
TCR: Can you tell us about pursuing both comedy and improv? Is your stand-up observational in nature – sharing your life with the audience, tweaked for poetic license?
GN: I love stand-up comedy and improv and I feel like the two kind of go hand in hand if you let them, especially when it comes to crowd work, which I’m slowly starting to get into. They both really require you to be super aware of what’s happening around you in the moment.
I sort of fell into both. I took an improv class just to explore and ended up falling in love with it. Then I tried a stand-up class because I thought it might help with my writing and acting—and I ended up falling in love with that too. I really like that with stand-up, it feels like it’s all in my hands. If I want to do a show and put myself on stage, I can just go do it. I don’t need to wait for someone to cast me or hope a schedule lines up. I can just get up and perform whenever I want, and that’s such an empowering feeling.
I’d say I’m still figuring out my true voice in stand-up, but right now my comedy is a bit of a blend. There’s definitely observational stuff, personal stories and some social commentary. I kind of bounce around because that’s how my mind works. I talk a lot about myself (maybe too much), but that’s where the humor comes in. I figured, what do I know best? Not politics, not world history… but me. So that’s what I talk about, and I do it confidently. That said, I definitely want to keep pushing myself and exploring new angles and topics and just keep learning and growing as I go.
TCR: Do you keep your persona as a Saffa or do you go into a LA mode in terms of accent and comedic voice?
GN: As for my persona on stage, I’d say I definitely keep my Saffa identity. People are curious about it and I think it makes me stand out a bit, so I do lean into it. But I like to play around with different voices, accents, and characters but I’m still discovering how far I can push all of that, but it’s been a really fun part of the process and I look forward to digging a little deeper.
TCR: I see on your Instagram page that you perform stand-up at the LA club, Flappers. Jay Leno performed there recently. Awesome! Tell us about the LA comedy scene – and your reception as a young Saffa woman?
GN: Flappers was the first place I ever performed my comedy. One thing I’d say about the LA comedy scene, is that there’s always something going on: These people don’t sleep. That’s super cool because it means there’s always room to grow as a comedian. Whether you’re just watching other people and learning or hitting up an open mic to practice, there’s always an opportunity to get better. There are open mics all day, every day.
Honestly, the scene is pretty small in a way. You start seeing the same faces and getting to know one another. It is a really supportive community. I have been lucky to be around so many uplifting people. As a young South African woman here I think that works in my favour, it’s definitely a strength and a Greta conversation starter. People are curious about where I come from and my perspective and I think my voice is pretty unique in this scene so I’m trying to lean into that while pushing myself to grow and find my way.
TCR: Why do you love improv and how is that skill informing your work as an actress on stage and film?
GN: I love improv—first of all, it’s just really fun and freeing. It blows my mind how people come together in the moment to create something amazing without a script. Something you’d think must have been scripted it just flows so perfectly. Improv is just all about collaboration and quick thinking and that really inspires me. I think it’s helped me a lot in my acting because it’s taught me to think out of the box and be more spontaneous, it’s pushed me to be more open in my work and be bigger and bolder. I will say it’s also been a real boost for my confidence and made me comfortable with the unknown and just going with the flow, you never know when you’re going to need to improvise.
TCR: Was your short film, Searching for Grace made as part of your degree? Is it a documentary or a fiction film?
GN: Yes, Searching for Grace was made as part of my degree, but it ended up being so much more than that. It is a fiction film, although it’s definitely inspired by some of my own truth and experiences.
TCR: How did you come about to be acting in the film Natasha Mail Order Bride: Escape to America – The Movie? I see that the writer Brookes Forde is a Canadian and that she has drawn from aspects of her outsider status – as a Canadian in the USA – in writing the screenplay. I am sure you can relate – coming from SA?
GN: I haven’t acted in it yet but filming will start this year. I met Brooke through the stand-up comedy scene and she puts on her own comedy shows. I have been performing at a couple of her events this year. She graciously offered me a role, maybe because she sees something in me, or maybe just because she’s being a good friend. I can definitely relate to her outsider perspective and I know it was a struggle for her to get here and stay here, so I feel drawn to the story because I know a lot of why she did it and what inspired her to write it which is super cool and I feel very privileged to have been able to pick her brain about it.
I will be playing the “Goth Girl” in the film- or we could call her Cookie Monster as Brooke says. I’m a hired hitman, specializing in baking poisonous cookies. The scene I’m in is hilarious. My character tries to kill the mother (who’s living with her son, the guy who ordered the mail-order bride) and is offering her these poisonous cookies. It is a funny scene and there’s some great dialogue too, I’m excited to dive into the character. As for the release I’m not sure on the exact details yet but stay tuned.
TCR: Tell us about performing in Black Peel?
GN: Black Peel is directed by Julian Holmes, who also directed Searching for Grace. Black Peel is his thesis film. The story follows a pizza delivery driver who has to escape a citrus-obsessed family that’s marked him for sacrifice. I’m really grateful I got to be a part of it and it was such a fun experience. I really enjoyed working on my character—she’s slightly unhinged, but with a good heart. I had a lot of fun getting into the physicality of her, bringing all her quirks to life. Oh, and she’s orange.
TCR: Can you tell us about your current stage work and taking the lead role in the fantasy stage production Sword Play: The Bladesmen of Pyrus”?
GN: Sword-Play: The Bladesmen of Pyrus Prii is a fantasy stage play written by LA-based playwright Thomas Steward. It is part of his Epic of Fastersille series. I had the role of the Goddess in his first book In Another Life: Chapter 1 In The Epic of Fastersille. He explains that Sword-Play is blending elements of Gladiator and Game of Thrones to explore themes of fate, greed, and religious conflict. I’m excited to be playing the lead role of Eesha. We’re doing a reading at The Hobgoblin Playhouse in Hollywood in August as part of MythicFest, a SciFi and Fantasy Theatre festival. Thomas plans on producing a full production next fall.
TCR: Are there any projects that you are working on at the moment, which combine your interests as actress, comedian and writer?
GN: I feel extremely blessed to be here in LA. It has been a really rewarding experience to try and navigate the industry and just life here in general. I’m constantly inspired and mind blown by the creativity around me and grateful for the opportunities I have had thus far. I actually just heard I landed a part in a micro budget feature film and I’m super excited because a lot of the film will be improv based. I’m also working on my stand-up and just trying to keep performing as much as I can and hone in on my craft which the stand-up definitely combined my skills as a comedian, actress and writer.
✳ Georgia Neves – South African actress, living and working in LA. Pic: Supplied.
