Presley Chweneyagae (born October 19, 1984), pronounced Shwen-NAY-ah-hi-eh, is a South African actor. He is best known for playing the lead role in the Oscar-winning film Tsotsi.
The prolific actor bagged an award at the Black Movie Awards in Los Angeles. He played Cobra Mokoena in the Mzansi Magic telenovela The River.
Early Life
Presley Chweneyagae was born on October 19, 1984, in North West Province, South Africa. He was born and raised during the apartheid, and the system denied him and most South Africans almost political rights.
When he was ten, the apartheid era got dismantled, and Chweneyagae and other black kids had a change of experience. His parents had four children, and his mother served in the police.
His supportive mother enrolled him in acting classes after she noticed that he loved art. At a young age, he performed in religious dramas hosted.
Education
Chweneyagae joined a drama school managed by a stage director Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom.
He then started to appear in many theatre roles as a teenager and eventually made his film debut in Tsotsi.
Career
Presley became well-known for his role in the film against a background of inequality and HIV, Tsotsi.
The actor played an excellent role which earned him an award for outstanding performance by a lead actor at the Black Movie Awards in Los Angeles in 2006.
Chweneyagae beat American actors Denzel Washington, Cuba Gooding, and Tyrese Gibson to win the award. At the 2006 Academy Awards ceremony, the film won an Oscar.
In 2018, the actor appeared in the Mzansi Magic telenovela The River. His performance earned him a role in a 2013 biographical film directed by Justin Chadwick, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
Theatre performances
Chweneyagae worked in the theatre back in the city of Johannesburg. He collaborated with Grootboom on a stage work at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh.
Awards
Seasoned actor Presley has received many awards and nominations for his unmatched performances. He bagged the Black Movie Award for outstanding performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.
In 2006, Chweneyagae won the Golden Kinnaree Award’s Best Actor. He received the Best Actor at the Mons International Festival of Love Films.
The actor has received many nominations for the South African Film and Television Awards.
Personal Life
Presley Chweneyagae married a Swazi woman called Paulina Chweneyagae. He has two children with his wife.
Arrest
The police arrested the actor near Sunnyside in Pretoria for driving with an allegedly fake Ivorian driver’s license.
The authorities also apprehended Chweneyagae for beating up his wife. He was allegedly arrested for assaulting his wife. The incident took place on September 5 following an altercation with his wife.
The Pretoria North police station detained him on “common assault charges”.
In his defense, Chweneyagae mentioned he argued with his wife about his car keys. She had refused to hand him the keys, and he had work to attend to.
However, the star actor said that he wasn’t a violent man and that was the first time it happened between him and his wife.
Net Worth
Presley Chweneyagae has made a fortune a lot from acting and stage performances. He owns a car which he often snaps himself in.
Media sources report that he earns from endorsements and guest appearances. He has a net worth of R9 million as of 2020.
Movies and TV Shows
• Tsotsi as tsotsi (2006)
• Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)
• iNumber NumberTV (2017)
• Menda City (2009)
• More Than Just a Game
• State of Violence
• 90 Plein Street
• The River as Cobra
• Africa United
• Zama Zama (2013)
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