SA star, 11, could make history at ‘Youth Oscars’

Stellenbosch actor Caleb Payne, 11, hopes to make history with a win for SA in tonight’s Young Artist Academy Awards at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles.    

Payne is the first South African actor to be nominated in the 43-year history of the awards, known in the entertainment industry as the “Youth Oscars”. He has been nominated in the Feature Film Leading Youth Artist category for his role as Jet in the 2021 Netflix movie Good Life.

The Daily Show host Trevor Noah is the only South African to have received a Young Artist Academy Award.  The comedian and TV presenter received the award in 2020, in the category of Journalistic Excellence. 

Past winning actors include Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Drew Barrymore, Demi Lovato and Zendaya.   

Caleb began acting professionally at the age of six, when he was cast for a German supermarket commercial.  After several directors encouraged him to pursue acting, award-winning SA casting director Moonyeenn Lee jump-started his career in HBO’s Warrior.  In addition to Good Life, Caleb starred in The Kissing Booth 3, and acted in the Netflix series Resident Evil and in M-Net’s Lioness.

Having arrived in LA just over a week ago with a non-stop schedule filled with photo shoots, casting director meetings and agency visits, Caleb said he is looking forward to tonight’s red carpet the most. 

“I’m very excited for the red carpet and my Aunt Marlene is making three suits for me to choose,” he told the Sunday Times. “There’s a pink velvet jacket that I am most likely going to wear, but I’ll make my decision on the day.”

His first trip to LA has been an eye-opening experience. “The traffic in LA is next level crazy and the jet lag was terrible. But what was nice was the people, the food and ice cream — so delicious, with many unique flavours.  We’ve visited Malibu, Burbank, downtown LA, Pasadena and the Griffith Observatory.  We even hiked up to the Hollywood sign, and the views were amazing.”

Caleb's mother, Marlene Payne, works as a CFO at Huguenot College in Wellington, Western Cape. Dad Stanford Payne is his full-time manager.

“It has been a huge family expense to travel back and forth to LA, as you can imagine.  Attempts to raise funds and sponsorship have unfortunately not been as successful as originally hoped, but we feel that Caleb’s talent is exceptional, and hope to provide him with the best opportunity possible.”

Good Life, released in 2021 on Netflix and directed by South African Bonnie Rodini, was shot in Cape Town and surrounding areas during the 2020 Covid lockdown.  Caleb played an Albanian refugee, the central figure in the film. 

Award-winning South African actress Erica Wessels, who stars in the film with Caleb, said she knew he was destined for greatness.

“I met Caleb the first time when Rodini was doing a preliminary photo shoot for the film,” she told the Sunday Times. “Here was this child, who at first seemed shy and quiet, but as I got to know him and work with him, I was extremely impressed by Caleb’s maturity and his ability to deliver his lines with such depth of emotion. He’s very smart and incredibly professional — he’s an old soul in a young body.  He understands the intricacies of what it takes to make a film.”

Caleb has several new projects coming up.

“One is an Afrikaans play with actor Marthinus Basson, another is a TV series with actor and author Nico Scheepers, and I also have a movie called The Fix, which is directed by Glasshouse filmmaker Kelsey Egan.” 

So, is a move to LA on the cards?

“I definitely plan to move my career to America at some point.  It’s like 70% sure that we would move if things are going well, and that my whole family would move together as we support each other so much.  I really want to thank my family for the sacrifices they’ve made.”