heat | 6-12 SEPTEMBER 2008 (p18-19)
Lee-Anne Liebenberg playing a tattooed cannibal in a horror movie? You’d better believe it. Well, sort of. It’s not Danny K’s busty girlfriend, but rather Lee-Anne the South African actress, stuntwoman, and star of heat‘s very own “Kung Fu Fighting” television ad!
When we heard that she was starring in Doomsday, we had to find out more! The movie is the latest offering from director Neil Marshall, the guy who directed cult classics like Dog Soldiers and The Descent. In this flick, the world has been destroyed by, you guessed it, a virus, and the survivors have to battle man-eating mutants just to stay alive. Lee-Anne plays the role of Viper, the cannibal leader’s girlfriend. And she ends up having her head chopped off, nogal!
Doomsday is her first non-stunt starring role, but the Free State-born kickboxing champion has performed in zillions of movies during her career, including the Michelle Rodriquez movie, The Breed.
“At first, the director didn’t want to cast me, saying stunt people can’t act, but then I did a scene and he was, like ‘She’s the one,'” she says.
Well, we could have told him that right from the start – Lee-Anne was fantastic in the heat ad on TV!
The movie itself is a take on the Mad Max story, except with cannibals, and surprised Lee-Anne when she saw it at the premiere.
“I thought it was going to be bad, but it was actually quite entertaining!”
And since the movie was shot mostly in Cape Town, Lee-Anne isn’t the only SA star making an appearance! Eloise Cupido, Nathalie Boltt and Cokey Falkow all make appearances. Our local stars sure have been busy …
First Starship Troopers 3 with Tanya van Graan, and now this bunch get to slay virus-possessed cannibals running around the Mother City!
Does Lee-Anne mind that people look baffled when she introduces herself as Lee-Anne Liebenberg? “I’m so used to it by now. People hear the name and automatically think it’s the model. But do I look like a model? Either way, she can borrow the name for now, she’ll need to change hers – after all, there can only be one Lee-Anne Liebenberg!”
