South African-born actress and model Hilary Ijieh is making a name for herself on the Los Angeles film scene after finishing her Masters in Acting For Film at the New York Film Academy (NYFA).
She was born in the East London township of Mdantsane to Nigerian parents who later moved to Parklands in Cape Town when she was a year old.
In 2015, Ijieh was awarded a R50 000 scholarship for NYFA.
However, she was still in high school, so she decided to stay in South Africa to matriculate and obtain her BCom in marketing at Varsity College.
Now, years later, she is making her film dreams come true.
In the last year alone, she worked on more than 50 projects in Los Angeles, including music videos, commercials and theatre performances.
Ijieh’s love for performance art started at school in Cape Town. She took acting classes from Grade 1 to matric and also did ballet, modern dance and hip hop.
She participated in multiple eisteddfods, leading to her participating in a performing arts tour to London and Stratford. She has also received certificates from Trinity College in London from Grade 6 to Grade 8 for speech and drama.
Not only has Hilary been featured in various on-stage productions and performed on major stages such as Artscape and Grand West, but she has also been a guest interviewer on YoTV Voxies and YoTV Design Indaba.
We spoke to the talented Ijieh, who said she hoped to be an inspiration to up-and-coming local models and actors from her home country.
“Try to get in front of the camera as much as you can. It’s important to feel comfortable in front of a camera, so I’d recommend finding a photographer, even if it’s a friend with their phone, and practise your angles.
“I’d also consider taking a dance class, as dancing has helped me understand how far I can stretch and move my body.
“Living in Los Angeles has taught me how important it is to take care of my mind, body and spirit.
“Working as a screen actor has been the most physically demanding job I’ve ever had. I had to do regular check-ins with myself to make sure I wasn’t skimping on sleep to scroll online, or that I wasn’t neglecting my friends.
“It’s so easy to forget to take care of yourself when you’re making money. I found that meal prepping and packing my bags the night before allowed me to sleep in a little more, and not rush to work, which would give me some mental peace. You’ve got to make life easier for your future self.”
Some of her credits include Bare with BCRA, Words Never Said, The Strange and Subtitles (a short film she wrote, executive produced and starred in – in post-production).
She moved to Los Angeles three years ago to pursue her passion for acting, and obtained her Master’s in Acting For Film at NYFA.
During her studies at NYFA, the 26-year-old worked with numerous peer film-makers, acted in 20 to 30 short films, studied the fundamentals of film with expert teachers, and has worked on her craft as an actor.
Hilary graduated with her Master’s in Acting For Film with a 4.0 GPA (grade point average) and has now entered the industry with years of extensive hands-on education and training.