Ira Blanckenberg on finding Spooksoeker’s teen stars

Spooksoeker is now streaming on Showmax, with new episodes every Thursday. 

When Warno Alberts turns 15, he suddenly becomes aware of ghosts in his dorpie – and that it’s now his job to banish them. 

Based on the bestselling young adult novels by multi-award-winner François Bloemhof, Spooksoeker introduces Rico Immelman as Warno and Zarelda de Bruin as the literal girl-next-door Melissa, with Silwerskerm 2023 Best Supporting Actor winner and double Aardklop 2024 nominee Joshwin Dyson (2024 Oscar entry Old Righteous Blues) as Warno’s best friend Allies. 

Watch the trailer for Spooksoeker S1

The job of finding the teen stars fell to casting director Ira Blanckenberg, herself a SAFTA nominee for South African Oscar entry Toorbos. Ira was uniquely placed for the job: she set up the Proscenium Drama Competition for high school students last year, after having run her own drama school for 15 years and judged the ATKV Tienertoneel drama competition for 12 years. 

She loves finding, coaching and supporting young talent. “It’s like eating dessert,” she tells Roz Els. “There is nothing more enjoyable for me than helping other actors open their doors of creativity and seeing them shine.” 

Tell us about the casting process for Spooksoeker. 

What’s incredible about the producers is that they want to make dreams come true. Jean-Pierre de Waal, co-founder and co-owner of Starscape Motion Pictures, has been dreaming about making this series for probably eight or nine years, and it was clear from the beginning that they also wanted to make young actors’ dreams come true. That was always the starting point: to find those actors who want to create magic and have big acting dreams.

The casting was challenging because we weren’t sure what age group we wanted. It’s always a challenge when you work with teenagers because they look so different. Some still look so young and some already look like adults. A boy who is 16 sometimes looks 23, but then you also get 23-year-olds who look 16. And you also have to get people of the right heights together and ensure everyone looks around the same age.

What do you look for as a casting director? 

Of course, you look for people who can work hard and for people who are committed. This is very important when you work on a TV series because the hours are terrible, so you definitely need very hard-working actors. 

And then you look for that something. That something is a difficult thing to describe. I always tell young actors, “If it looks like you’re not acting, then you’re on the right track.” There was a famous casting director in South Africa who once said to a famous actress, “Can you just stop acting so I can see if you can act?” So that’s that thing; an x-factor of honesty. I think the biggest things I look for are honesty, acting from the heart, and vulnerability.

Tell us about playing a ghost in Spooksoeker? 

I played a ghost with my husband, Waldi Schultz, and we had so much fun. Even though Waldi and I only appear in one episode, we really cause a lot of chaos. I can’t wait to see it on screen. 

And, of course, it was great to play opposite the young actors that I’ve come such a long way with. To see how they grew was just fantastic. By the time we got on set, they had been going for so long and were like old, old actors. They were professional; they knew what they were doing; they were so comfortable. It was absolutely wonderful to see. 

Why should people watch Spooksoeker?

Spooksoeker is truly a groundbreaking TV series for Afrikaans. It’s aimed at teenagers, but I think the whole family will be glued to the screen. When have we ever watched a ghost series, a real horror series, on television, in Afrikaans? I don’t think we’ve ever seen it. 

I think people are going to scream and shout and laugh at what you see. It’s fun to sit on the edge of your seat and be a little scared, and creeped out, but in a nice way. The characters are interesting and how they try to get rid of these wonderful ghosts is just fun. 

And then, of course, there are the personal stories of these children, what goes on at school, relationships with family, relationships with each other, and it holds many surprises. There is truly something for everyone. 

I am excited to see what it will mean for the Afrikaans audience. I hope this is the start of many Spooksoeker seasons, and that we will continue to be a little more risky when it comes to Afrikaans series.

What is your best advice for young aspiring actors who want to make acting their career?

My advice is to know how hard it can be. There is not that much work available. You have to keep knocking on doors and be prepared to get knocked down. If you don’t get a role, keep working on your craft. You have to keep honing your acting skills, keep going and knocking on doors, and just never give up. Somewhere a door is going to open. If you can keep going, it is the most satisfying job in the whole world.

Stream Spooksoeker on Showmax.