Laré Birk

Laré Birk is a South African film and television actress. Laré Birk was born in the beautiful town of Ceres in 1986. She grew up in Piketberg and then later in Alberton, where she matriculated in 2004. She currently lives in Johannesburg. Laré obtained her BA honours degree at the North West University, Potchefstroom in 2008. Afterwards, she started her Masters degree in Film theory and lectured at AFDA in the television department. In 2011, Laré participated in the World Championships of the Performing Arts in Los Angeles where she was succeeded with numerous awards. She has worked on many productions as a technical operator, including "So you think you can dance", "Villa Rosa" and "SA's got talent". In 2012 this "busy body" started to focus on her acting career, when she realised stage and set are second homes. That same year, she featured in the "Toyota Etios" and "McDonald Mzansi Millions" commercial, as well as a short film (Anderkant gister) that made the Top 6 of Kyknet's Silwerskerm fees. She also participated in independent stage productions. In 2013 she stepped into the feature film world and fell in love instantaneously. Starting off with a supporting role in "Musiek vir die agtergrond" under direction of Sallas de Jager, and landed a big one as the female lead in "Schuks your country needs you", along with the legends Leon Schuster, Rob van Vuuren and Alfred Ntombela, with Gray Hofmeyr as director. Television came her way and she had the privilege to feature in Deon Opperman's television series, Sterlopers as the flamboyant character Anel, under direction of Quentin Krog, released in 2014 and Pandjieswinkelstories, under direction of Koos Roets (which was a huge honor), also also released in 2014 for KykNet. After 2014 she has featured in films such as Suurlemoen, Ballade vir n Enkeling, Paw Paw vir my Darling, Vanuit die Vog and Dis ek, Anna In 2015 she was one of the prankster ons Emo Adams' Jou Show and the beautiful Vir Altyd, with Donnalee Roberts and Ivan Botha, released in 2016. At the Silwerskermfees 2015 she was seen in Sweisbril under direction of Gerard Rudolf. One of her own productions, Dearest Elle was also showcased. It was her directorial debut in collaboration with Adam Heyns and Jenna Dunster. Dearest Elle won Best existing short film. She also starred in Alexia, which is an English independent film out of the pen and direction of Khalid El-Jelailati. In 2016 she starred in Hoener met die rooi skoene as Roxie Roos, written and directed by Koos Roets. She also shot the EPK for this production. Later that same year she stepped onto the stage in My Japan with Andre Stolz as the director. During 2016 she started to direct inserts for Homebrew's Bravo and Kwêla for Kyknet. In 2017 she protrayed "Alice" in Binnelanders. A daily drama on KykNet. She also films the indipendant film Zea & Hanneli in which she portrays the lead character of Zea. In 2018 she stepped into the world of presenting as the host of "Kom ons Trou Nou" for Viatv and featured in the multi award winning "Axis Mundi" for the Silwerskermfees. The rest of 2018 and 2019 she produced and directed small projects and commercials for various businesses. In 2020 she returned to Binnelanders as "Alice". In the same year she was nominated for Best Female Villain at the Royal Soapie Awards for her portrayal as Alice. Her shortfilm, "Donker" won best short film at the Silwerskermfees awards. In 2021 she stepped into the shoes of director again of "Dankie Lottoland" for Kyknet. She is currently working on producing her own productions with much excitement. Outside of acting, she has her own business, Woodlady, that creates wood furniture from recycled wood as well as The L House, a photography and videography business. She also recently started a chicken farm. Laré can be described as a dynamic, energetic, passionate and hard working woman with ambition to carry her for many many years.