- Born
- Nickname
- Chris
- Born May 17 1983, Christina grew up in a house filled with music and lots and lots of movies. She started singing and acting at a very early age and was no stranger to performance and the use of the imagination. At age 19, Christina joined an agency and started her career in acting and modeling. In 2006, she wrote and performed her first single, a dance track called "Bliss". In 2007, Christina became a DJ on the South African Top 40 Radio station 5FM, where she spent 3 years broadcasting and playing club gigs. During the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Christina hosted on SABC 3, interviewing entertainment stars and legends. 2011 she works as a voice over artist and announcer for SABC 3, as well as being very active in music production.- IMDb Mini Biography By: C A Swan
- Christina is professionally known for her authenticity, wit and sensitivity to all aspects of the filmmaking process. Her integrated approach to understanding the social and behavioral implications of acting in the 21st C, positions her firmly as a next gen thought-leader in the field. Impacted by screen legends Peter Sellers, Steve Martin, Jim Carrey, Jack Nicholson, Gene Wilder and Val Kilmer in her youth, Christina awakened her inner potential to combine impeccable comic timing and intellect with complex character casting. She took lessons from both Shirley McClean and Goldie Hawn on how to animate physical beauty in the manner of an unassuming siren. Christina won the guild award as her school's best drama student and her screen debut was as an extra at 15 in the popular Afrikaans TV show Vetkoekpaleis. After signing with her first agent, she immediately landed a role of Claire in SABC 1 soap Tsha Tsha, alongside Freshly Ground's Zolani Mahola as the band hit the music scene in 2002. At age 21, she played the role of a 14-year-old rape victim in award winning South African police television drama series Jozi Streets. Shortly after, she was also cast as Bridgette in real estate soap opera, Hot Property and then clinched a feature in drama series One Way. In 2014, Christina scooped the role of antagonist Michelle in urban legend movie Die Spook van Uniondale and shortly after relocating to Cape Town, played Estelle in Kyknet comedy series Die Buurtwag. More recently she stars as American lesbian Zoe in the psychological thriller, Sinner due for release toward the end of this year alongside Working for Willy, a mockumentary where she plays Dina, girlfriend to delusional screenwriter Stephen van Niekerk of Isidingo fame. A keen writer, Christina penned, performed and directed parodies on Goldilocks and Snow White in high school, and wrote teen vampire drama Day is Night, set in Dublin over three centuries. In 2006 she wrote Karmica, combing the genres of "bro-noir", detective fiction and superhero live-action. These were followed in 2009 by horror, psychological thriller, Tokoloshe. By becoming intimately acquainted with editing in the post-production process, Christina came to understand what makes a great actor in terms of the nuances of continuity. Drawing on this body of knowledge, Christina was invited to design short courses on Acting for Screen for third year film students, which she will present at Open Window Higher Education Institute for arts and digital sciences in Centurion. Fundamentally influenced by the styles of Mel Churcher, Ivana Chubbuck, David Mamet and Patrick Tucker, Christina adopted an anthropological and social approach to studying acting,Her interest in cognitive sciences and the human condition in the field of acting, opened up an innovative method of research. From Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to Michael Shermer's Believing Brain and Daniel Coyle's Talent Code, Christina developed a comprehensive body of reference work, focused for the actor on the nature of how belief systems are born, formed, reinforced, challenged, changed, and extinguished. These include The Deceptive Mind by Yale Prof Steven Novella and Triggers by Marshall Goldsmith which examine environmental and psychological triggers. Thought leaders in social sciences and behaviorism such as Chip Heath, Nassiem Talieb, Daniel Pink, Seth Godin layered her understanding of what motivation, the way ideas spread and challenging the status quo. These include Stanford Prof Kerry Patterson's Crucial Conversation, William Ury's Power Of A Positive No. Christina is also influenced by the work Byron Katie, a method of self-inquiry requiring critical thinking skills designed to unlock subconscious behaviors. In terms of creating safe psychological spaces for actors she draws on Brene Brown's Power of Vulnerability principles. Voice & Accent Coaching Being the youngest in a family of musically/technically gifted children Christina had experimented with the violin, cello and flute by the age of 5 and started singing a year later. She settled on piano and was part of a marimba band in high school. At the age of 13 she was offered are recording deal. Christina wrote and performed first single Bliss and shortly after became a DJ on the South African Top 40 Radio station 5FM, where she spent 3 years broadcasting and playing club gigs. Through the years she made regular appearances on both Jacaranda and presenting on Smile FM. During the 2010 Soccer World Cup, she worked as a voice-over artist and announcer for SABC 3 interviewing entertainment stars and legends. In dealing with her father's passing, Christina launched her album The Art of More in two parts, motivated by the paradox of innocence and wisdom. Time spent in recording studios helped her share her experience with voice direction and teach the intricate differences of of breath work across genres. Her background in teaching vocal technique and voice helped her understand accent nuances and in 2015, Bonnie Lee Bouman sought Christina to read for auditions due to her strong American accent. Casting for the role of Zoe in Sinner both director and producer mistook her for a fellow countryman. Her understanding of the intricacies of by-passing cultural muscle memory to form native sounds, have drawn actors like Paul Snodgrass, Tamryn Speirs and Chris Stein to seek her skills. Also studying Professor Natalie Shilling's English in America, a description of language variation in American English which considers the descriptive, theoretical, and applied ramifications of dialects in American society, Christina continues to nurture a unique coaching style tailored for local actors based on first-hand experience with their vocal challenges. Movement Based on experience of developing movement at a young age during eisteddfods, at age fifteen, Christina spent 8 months training, inspired by Michael Flately's Lord of the Dance and became Irish Dance national gold/silver and bronze medalist. At age 21 trained in Fosse for a month, making it through the first round of dance auditions for Chicago, and took classes in London in both Latin Ballroom. Her coaching materials reference works such as The Lucid Body, a guide for the physical actor by Fay Simpson; T Tapp rehabilitative workout program and Bikram yoga for quick emotional release, with Tim Ferris' 4-hour body to meet the rigorous physical demands of acting on the body, mind and spirit.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Juanique Randall
- Posed naked in Marie Claire's (SA) Naked Issue to promote a campaign against women abuse.
- Ever since doing bridge swinging during her appearance on the magazine show Top Billing, has suffered from tinnitus.
- Absolutely adores Conan O'Brien and even said in her radio show "I want to be Conan's bitch".
- The producers of Sinner were considering casting in the U.S., but because of her impeccable American accent, Christina Knight was cast to play the role of Zoe.
- Christina Knight was considered for all 3 lead female roles in the movie Spook van Uniondale.
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