Natasha Mayet

Natasha Mayet is an international actress, writer and producer born in Karachi, Pakistan and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. Her parents are of Pakistani and East Indian (Gujarati) heritage. Natasha had an interested in acting from a very young age, performing in several theater productions, including Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. Born of Pakistani and Indian parents who believed in the importance of higher education, she instead chose to complete her college education and went on to pursue a Masters degree, and even volunteered for the UN in Brazil, before she made the decision to become a full-time actress. After pursuing a workshop at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles which gained her a part in her first short film Already Over during one of visits to the US, she decided to pursue acting full time upon her return to South Africa. Inspired by actors such as Charlize Theron, another South African actress, Viola Davis, and Frieda Pinto to name a few, she set her goal of being an award-winning actress in Hollywood. Natasha started her training in acting at the prestigious Act Cape Town in South Africa and also studied with acting coach and casting director Bonnie Rodini. Natasha has also trained with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Hollywood acting coach Ivana Chubbuck, the Upright Citizen's Brigade, and Susan Batson. She currently trains at Anthony Meindl's studio in Atlanta, which she calls home. Her South African successes include her first role in feature film Bleeding Gospel directed by award-winning director Jacques Brown. The director was inspired by her dedication and eagerness to learn and invited her to visit the set of the movie. A few days later, she was called in to play a role that had been added to the film, where she would be playing a wife in a domestic violence situation. The film starred several other award-winning actors in South Africa such as Greg Kriek (Momentum, Black Mirror). From there on she went to be offered several other leading roles in South African productions, her next one being in the Dutoit brothers feature "Three Suspects", a crime drama, followed by Gary Green's Thieves. She also played a lead role in the television pilot Apple Side of Life. While in Los Angeles on her O1, Natasha filmed seven episodes on the television pilot Office Girls. Working with a mostly all-female cast and crew, Natasha played the lead role of the office manager Tazzy Lin, a seemingly meek woman who is also tough. The role was initially written for an Asian woman but when Natasha walked into the audition room, the director decided that she was the girl for the part. She also starred in Vincent Gomez's play "The Desperate Yogi" performed at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, taking on four of the lead female roles in the play. Her biggest break however, was in the feature film Trafficked starring Ashley Judd, where Natasha played a victim of human trafficking. The film received much acclaim and was shortlisted at the Sundance Screenwriters lab. Her goal is to contribute to the diversity of women on screen, especially minorities such as Pakistani and East Indian women who until actresses like Priyanka Chopra come along, were not playing lead roles and often presented in a stereotypical manner on screen. She is also an aspiring producer and will be co-producing her first feature film, Silence Her, which she is also playing a major role in. Her films have been also featured at local and international film festivals, such as the Bronz Lens film festival, Gentleman Jack Reel to Reel, Atlanta Sci-Fi Film Festival, and most recently at the Berlin Sci-Fi Film Festival.