Rico Immelman, , a rising star in South African television, has been cast as the lead in the groundbreaking Afrikaans series “Spooksoeker”, where his character Warno battles ghosts in his small town.
The Showmax Original, which will premiere next month, is based on the best-selling young adult novel of the same name by multi-award-winning author François Bloemhof.
The 17-year-old Grade 11 pupil from Noordheuwel High School in Krugersdorp in Gauteng featured in productions such as 2022’s “The First Last Tour” as well as the kykNET show, “Die fantastiese verdwyning van Charlie Prins.”
He also attended the 60th ATKV Tienertoneel in Cape Town in September, which is a renowned Afrikaans high school theatre competition.
As one of the finalists in the ATKV-DigiToneel competition, in which high school students get the opportunity to develop their camera skills by filming monologues, he also got the chance to features on the ATKV’s reality series, “Gekies vir die Kollig”, which recently aired on VIA (DStv channel 147).
In the new show, he takes the lead as Warno, alongside Zarelda de Bruin who plays the girl next door Melissa.
“Working on ‘Spooksoeker’ is one of the best experiences of my life,” he said in a recent interview.
“It was my first lead role in a TV series and also the longest project I worked on.”
“It was also my first time doing stunt work and I can't wait to see what is next for me.”
He added: “At this point in my career, I'm ecstatic and I'm so grateful for all the opportunities.”
According to a statement, “Spooksoeker” centres around Immelman’s character, who suddenly begins to see ghosts when he turns 15. It is now up to him and his friends to save their community as they banish the ghosts.
The rest of the show’s cast includes Silwerskerm 2023’s Best Supporting Actor winner Joshwin Dyson who plays Warno’s best friend, Allies. He is joined by South African Film and Television Awards (Saftas) nominee Roeline Daneel and “DAM” star Laudo Liebenberg.
They are joined by Saftas winners June van Merch and Morné Visser, alongside the likes of Daneel van der Walt, David Isaacs, Deon Coetzee, Ira Blanckenberg, Ivan Zimmerman, Izel Bezuidenhout and Jane de Wet, amongst several others.
In addition, The Starscape Motion Pictures production team has also assembled a star-studded line-up behind the camera.
They include director Jan-Hendrik Burger, SXSW Zeiss Cinematography Award winner Jorrie van der Walt, Saftas-winning composer Daniel Eppel as well as Saftas winners Franci van den Heeven and Pippa Heimann on production and wardrobe design, respectively.
Meanwhile, Immelman said that he decided to get involved with this project because it was his childhood dream to star in a series as a main character.
“When Starscape offered me the lead role as Warno, I couldn't resist.”
The youngster believes that “the audience is going to love every single second of ‘Spooksoeker’.”
“Showmax has released great quality movies and series in the past that are not only entertaining a South African audience but internationally, too. ‘Spooksoeker’ is certainly on that level.”
The rising star explained that much of its appeal is “the fact that there has never been an Afrikaans teenage series in South Africa before.”
He added that the production of the show is also of an excellent standard, including its visual effects, which he described as “next level.” “The storyline is something different,” Immelman added.
The young actor also believes that there are many themes in the series that viewers will be able to relate to.
He said that one of them is “the fact that teenagers aren’t always comfortable enough to be truthful towards their parents or adults” as well as “putting yourself in difficult situations to help the people close to you.”
“‘Spooksoeker’ shows teenagers that it's okay to ask for help when you find yourself in a bad situation.”
And with his first major acting stint under his belt, Immelman is looking forward to lighting up many more screens.
He believes that working with such an illustrious cast and crew has been an incredible learning experience.
“The ‘Spooksoeker’ team are such amazing people,” he said.
“I learned so much from the other actors. I enjoyed working with them, they welcomed me into this level of work with open arms.”
He added: “The crew was so dedicated in their work to produce the best series they could.”
∎ “Spooksoeker” premières on Showmax on December 5.