Mieke Stapelberg

Mieke Stapelberg, was born to a South African father (a baker and entrepreneur) and South African mother (a businesswoman and CEO of a pharmaceutical company). Mieke spent her early years watching films at the cinema, while growing up in Pretoria in South Africa. One rainy Sunday, at the age of 11, after watching Titanic with her mom and dad, she told them that she wanted to be an actor. She promised herself that she would one day be in a movie with Leonardo Di Caprio. As Mieke got older, she delved into and fell in love with performing and dreamed of moving to America to pursue a career in acting. At the age of 16, she completed the Midsummer in London program at The British American Drama Academy. The certificate of completion included participation in courses involving Movement, Improvisation, Contemporary Theatre, Voice Acting and Shakespeare. After graduating with a Bachelor Of Arts Degree in Acting from The South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance (AFDA) in Johannesburg, she had her bags packed and ready to move to LA. However, the world recession put her plans on hold and she found herself on her way to South Korea to teach English in a village near its border with North Korea instead. Life in Korea was stable, but it was here where Mieke realized that she had abandoned her one true love of performing for an easier life. She vowed never to give up on her acting career again. While in South Korea, Mieke co-wrote and played in two productions, "Cannibal Solutions" and "Introspector". Both were very successful theatrical productions which played to sold-out theaters in Seoul. This was a wonderful opportunity for Mieke to showcase that she is not only an actor but also a strong writer. In Mieke's own words "Looking back now, I consider Korea to be one of my biggest allies on my journey as an actor. It's made me strong. My experiences in Korea have made me into the artist that I am today". Upon her return from South Korea, and determined to pursue a career in acting full time, Mieke auditioned for and enrolled at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts (formerly The School for Film and Television). She was awarded the Sanford Meisner Scholarship and had the wonderful opportunity to study with Carol Kastendieck ("When the World was Green" at the Michael Chekov Theatre Company in New York City), Maury Ginsberg, actor ("Law and Order", "The Good Wife", "House of Cards" and "Friends") and well-known and respected teacher Jay Goldenberg. She completed the two year program cum laude and graduated as one of the top of her class. In this time Mieke had acquired knowledge in fields such as Process for the Camera, Dialects, Dance and Movement, Suzuki and Viewpoints, Sense Memory, Meisner Technique, Voice and Speech as well as Shakespeare. She also completed courses such as Comedy and Improvisation, On-Camera Technique, Vocal and Physical Dynamics, as well as Scene Study. Her training has covered many areas in her field, making her comfortable to take on any role no matter how challenging. Mieke had a principal role in The Americans which aired on FX. This spy thriller is created by Joe Weisberg and the episode was directed by Noah Emmerich who plays the role of Stan Beeman on the show. Mieke has played roles that have varied from Shakespeare to Tennessee Williams in some of South Africa's major repertory theaters. She has been featured in commercials and voice-overs both in South Africa and abroad. She played Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare's "Macbeth", Blanche Du Bois in Tennesse William's "A Streetcar Named Desire" and Anne in "Tell It Like It Is"- an adaption of "The Vagina Monologues", which she also co-wrote and which won best stage play at AFDA in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is remarkable what an impact young, talented people like Mieke are making on the once again flourishing theatrical scene in South Africa after many years where nothing much was happening. In Poland, Mieke appeared in a commercial for "Wrigley's Winterfresh Chewing Gum". In South Africa she appeared in a commercial for "Goldwagen" which was often aired during the Rugby, a television slot viewed by millions. The commercial for "Goldwagen" was produced by Red Pepper Pictures and Brendan Jack ("Footskating 101" and "Crazy Monkey Presents Straight Outta Benoni"). Alongside well known South African actress Yvonne Van Den Bergh ("Villa Rosa", "7de Laan" and "Glitterati"), Mieke was one of the voices for "First National Bank". She has also worked as a presenter for the Learning Channel - a DSTV channel in South Africa. One of Mieke's short films "Exodus", in which she plays the lead, screened to a sold out audience at the respected Cinema Nouveau in Sandton, Johannesburg. It was also aired on Mzansi Magic - a popular television channel on MNET, a cable station in South Africa which has a viewership of close to five million people. Her other thesis film, "Happiness", in which she played a supporting role, was also shown on the same channel. Mieke has helped to bring stories to an evolving South African audience. Over the last couple of years South Africa has gone through a lot of changes and audiences want to see challenging new productions reflecting the relatively new rainbow nation and the challenges it faces. The films Mieke has been involved with have done just that. In the short film "Love", which was made in New York, Mieke played the lead role and the film won a merit award at the La Jolla film festival in California. Her theatre debut in New York last summer, was in the play "Dracula", in which she portrayed the role of actress, Ellen Chandler. She is very proud to have been called back for NBC's Diversity Showcase not too long ago and is excited to continue and work hard at a career in television. Mieke is set to play Sophia Carver in the indie feature film "Etude Dystophia", produced by independent production company "Bourbon Films" which will commence shooting in New York next summer. She has worked steadily in the industry over the last few years building a strong and steady repertoire. She has proven how much she loves and lives for storytelling. Mieke is fluent in English and Afrikaans and has a general knowledge of German and Dutch. She is multi-talented and has done work in modeling, tele-prompting, presenting, children's entertainment, teaching, production and set design as well as costume and makeup. "I find her to be one of those rare, young actors, who understands that there is a strong need for an actor to have the talent, passion, ambition and the business acumen to succeed in this industry. My job is about having an eye for talent and judging that they are going to be successful working actors in the industry. In this case, Mieke has all the right qualities to be a successful working actor in our industry here in the US," says Casting Director Elsie Stark of Stark Naked Productions. Mieke is signed with Herb Rothman at American Talent Management in New York and in South Africa she is represented by Thespians Artist Agency.