Kim Engelbrecht reveals that she won't be doing an American accent since The Mechanic (gasp!) has a South African background, and has advice for South Africans who have dreams of making it big in Hollywood, saying "It is possible. It's not an out of reach dream".
How is it to film and be part of this American superhero show? We last spoke on the set when you were filming the American science fiction series Dominion that was also on M-Net and filmed in Cape Town, and now you're in an American show filmed in Canada.
Kim: The Flash is already in its 4th season so it's already got a huge fan base. Not only is it a TV show, it is also a comic book, so I think the pressure is on.
It's a really big deal for me, it's a really big deal for me. It's really exciting, it's a really cool show to be part of.
How did getting the role come about?
Kim: My manager and I went to the United States a year ago to get get an American management team on my career and a lawyer and all of those things so you can get actually work abroad.
So it's been me auditioning for the last few months and doing tapes and sending them to America, and also going to America and seeing directors.
So for me this has been a process of just trying to find the right fit and then landing this job.
And then in terms of an American accent, you've got lots of experience with it, having dome Dominion but I suppose it takes constant practice. Did The Flash want something different?
Kim: I've worked with an American accent before, I can do it, it's something that I work on all the time. This character of The Mechanic does have a South African background. So the accent was not a problem.
Then speaking of the character, The Mechanic I think is actually a man. But I'm not sure. And there's very little backstory and history available.
Kim: I tried to do as much research on the character as possible. There's not a lot that I could find. I was not familiar with the character. I do however know The Thinker, and I'm familiar with villain villain Clifford Devoe. And only very recently, me doing an interview with another American company did they let me know that The Mechanic was a man.
So to me its surreal, it's actually kudos to the writing team that sees this as a female role. I'm up for the challenge and I really excited for The Mechanic to be a female.
Is your character good or bad, or is she - I get the sense that it's going to be a case of she follows and helps a bad guy but from a point of believing what she is doing is right. What motivates The Mechanic?
Kim: That is actually exactly what it is. I think there's a theme that carries through all of the seasons of The Flash where it's always good versus evil. This is very much not different. So The Thinker is this 4th season's "big bad", he is the villain of the show.
And she's his first lieutenant, she's his loyal ally; whatever he thinks up, she builds. And she will do anything to keep him happy. She tries everything to make what he thinks up a reality.
I think there's a constant line where people do bad things, and bad people think that what they're doing is good.
Is there a lot of technobabble for you in The Flash as a creator of things?
Kim: There is. She's a highly intelligent engineer. But not only does she plan and design things as engineers do, she's also a technician,so she maintains and fixes and also builds.
I'm slowly getting the hang of it, or finally it's really interesting, actually. It's a whole different realm that I've never explored before and I'm now learning about. Physics terms I've never heard before and I find it interesting.
And in terms of getting the script, how is that different from other shows you've been in? Do you get more time, or is it less time, or is it more difficult to learn and memorise?
Kim: It's like I've said it's not a field that I'm very familiar with engineery speak but I think what helps me is I'm very interested in the character, I'm very interested in that "world", I'm very interested in the relationship stuff.
I do a lot for research. Whatever terms I don't understand I google and I try and familiarise myself with it. It's a bit of a challenge and a bit of an engineering lesson for me. In terms of the lines ... it's my job to learn lines, so I enjoy that.
And my last question is what advice do you have for South African actors who also maybe have dreams of making it big in Hollywood. It's obviously takes a lot of hard work and perseverance and a lot of hurdles and strategic career planning.
Kim: It's very simple. It is possible. It is possible. It's not an out of reach dream. It's not.
More and more the world is not only casting South Africans but making shows and movies in South Africa, which gave me an opportunity to try my hand at this. Also get a good support structure.
Get an agent on board; a manager that has the same vision as you. It's possible is what I can say. You can do it.
■ The 4th season of The Flash starts in America on the CW network on 10 October.
M-Net (DStv 101) says it will start showing the 4th season of The Flash from January 2018 in South Africa and Africa because it's moving away from showing a lot of titles "Express from the US".
"To give our viewers the best, uninterrupted viewing experience, M-Net has decided not to broadcast some of the series Express from the US so as to avoid the series' numerous production breaks."
