Cape Town – She may play a demon from hell who follows Lucifer to Earth to be among the living on screen but homegrown actress Lesley-Ann Brandt is more than just the sex symbol demon.
Brandt plays the demon Mazikeen or Maze in the Netflix series Lucifer, which is due to have it’s fourth season debut on the streaming service on May 8.
The series was initially cancelled last year after three seasons on Fox but after fan outcrys and demands for it to be renewed gained mass popularity on social media, Netflix decided to pick up the series.
“We were all incredibly sad. I don’t think anyone was ready to let this family go. We are all quite close so to end it all so abruptly felt like a punch to the stomach,” said Brandt.
Once the cast found out they had been picked up for another season it was full steam ahead to craft a show fitting of their new home.
“I think we were always meant to be a Netflix show to be honest. It’s just a sexier place to call home. There’s a lot more freedom for our writers and for us actors.
“Our order got halved so we went from 22 episodes to ten, which means every episode counts. The stakes are high and the story moves,” said Brandt.
She said the series picks up right from the season three finale where Lucifer (Tom Ellis) revealed his devil face to Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German).
“It’s bold and wild. The top half deals with Chloe wrapping her head around Lucifer being real and we end on one major cliffhanger. Even bigger than last year.”
Brandt was not initially cast for Maze with the role going to actress Lina Esco but after the first table read Esco was dropped and Brandt added to the cast.
“She’s grown up, learnt a lot and humanity has certainly rubbed off on her. There’s a maturity about her this season that I enjoyed exploring. But this season we focus on love. We get to focus on who is the person for her,” said Brandt.
Born in Cape Town she immigrated with her family to Auckland, New Zealand in 1999 and would eventually find work in retail sales. She also worked as promo-girl for Red Bull and did some modelling work before being cast in some New Zealand TV ads.
“At 17 years old and straight out of high school, it was tough. I’d say though leaving South Africa definitely made me more patriotic and simultaneously critical of what we as a country don’t get right,” said Brandt.
She married American actor Chris Payne Gilbert in 2015 and together the couple have a son, Kingston Payne Brandt-Gilbert, who was born in 2017 and has yet to visit Cape Town.
“I’m hoping to be out there (Cape Town) later this year with my family. My son has yet to meet most of his South African family and one of my best friends from high school is having a baby so I’d like to be there,” she said.
Weekend Argus