Rocklands’ Marley, 7, stars in new action film
Seven-year-old Marley Valentine, from Rocklands, is starring in the lead role in a new local fantasy action film called Death Angel.
She is acting alongside Chavonne Matthys, 36, from Belhar, an actress from soapie Arendsvlei, and Angelica Jeremias, 20, from Delft, a media drama student at City Varsity.
Marley has impressed the creative team with her talent and energy.
She plays the role of the young angel named Innocence who the Death Angel must protect in order to complete the prophecy by leading God's army to victory, said director and founder of Touched By Style Community Arts Project, Nic Matthee.
Marley showcased her abilities in martial arts when she was cast for this lead role.
Mother Venecia Valentine was on set during the filming of a shootout scene. “Guns were blazing during the filming of the production in a warehouse in Killarney. The highlight was when little Marley had to do her scene and had the cast and crew in silence when she put on a convincing act, executing the scene spot on.”
Ms Valentine said she was sceptical at first about her daughter acting in the movie. Seeing the make-up effects, and sitting through the sound of gunshots, was quite overwhelming for Ms Valentine.
“I was afraid she might not be able to handle it, but she did. She was in there like a pro. She loves the thrill and adventures of life. I love that she is getting to enjoy her passion for the arts,” she said.
Ms Valentine explained how Marley rehearses her lines.
“Nic sends me her lines via WhatsApp and I read them to her. She would want to read it herself because as she said, ‘Read2Rise gave me books to read and if I can read Oaky, I can read this. I might get asked, ‘mom what's this word’ very rarely. Her lines are short but impactful, I'm still amazed at how she does it, all that concentration while keeping a straight face,” Ms Valentine said.
Marley said she likes horror and action films. She can’t wait to walk down the red carpet at a movie premiere one day as well as live in a triple-storey home to sometimes escape her brother.
“I am excited about being in a local film and dreaming big,” she said.
“Because we do action films with elements of graphic content such as gun battles between the heroes and villains, it never came to us to have a child act in such an adult dominated film,” said Patrick Lategan, co-founder of the Touched By Style Community Arts Project.
“Marley’s character is the link of the whole production and exposes the fact that young talent have a unique importance and contribution in the motion picture,” said Mr Lategan.
Death Angel is due to be released on Thursday March 28. For more information email touchedbystyle21@gmail.com