Whatever Happened To The Cast Of District 9?
A friendship that kickstarted an actor's entire film career. An onscreen politician with the approval of a real president. Here's what the cast of "District 9" have been up to since the film's 2009 release.
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00:00A friendship that kick-started an actor's entire film career, an on-screen politician
00:05with the approval of a real president.
00:07Here's what the cast of District 9 have been up to since the film's 2009 release.
00:13Charles Toe Copley made his feature-length acting debut as District 9's protagonist Vickis
00:18van de Merwe.
00:20Working at Multinational United, or MNU, the military contractor assigned to keeping the
00:24Prawns in check, Vickis is tasked with relocating the 1.8 million aliens to another camp when
00:31he is exposed to alien fluid that slowly transforms him into a prawn.
00:35MNU is trying to move the aliens for humanitarian reasons, but the real focus, just as it has
00:41been right from the beginning, is weapons.
00:44When MNU tries to dissect Vickis so that they can use his alien DNA to access alien technology,
00:50he escapes and becomes a fugitive of the law.
00:53With nowhere else to go, Vickis makes a deal to help a prawn named Christopher Johnson
00:57and his son Little CJ leave Earth in order to save himself.
01:01District 9 was actually Copley's feature-length debut.
01:04He was close friends with director Neil Blomkamp, who offered him the role.
01:07The performance marked the beginning of a busy career for Copley.
01:11Since 2009, he's starred in several other movies, such as 2010's The A-Team, 2013's
01:16Oldboy, and 2014's Maleficent.
01:19He was also the lead on the PlayStation Network TV series Powers, which premiered in 2015
01:24and lasted for two seasons.
01:26Copley continued to work with Blomkamp on feature films like 2013's Elysium and 2015's
01:32Chappie, and short films including 2017's God Serengeti and 2018's God City, from Oates
01:38Studios.
01:40Jason Cope may not be a household name, but the South African actor did play a major role
01:45in District 9.
01:46For starters, Cope did the motion capture work for Christopher Johnson and all the
01:50speaking aliens.
01:51Cope also played the human UKNR correspondent Grey Bradnam, who is interviewed several times
01:56throughout the film.
01:58Cope continued to score roles in other projects.
02:00He appeared in several films over the years, such as 2012's Dread and 2013's Mandela, Long
02:06Walk to Freedom, and had a recurring role on the Starz TV series Black Sails.
02:10Cope also continued to collaborate with Blomkamp, as he appeared in 2015's Chappie and three
02:16of the director's short films with Oates Studios — God Serengeti, God City, and 2017's Adam
02:21the Mirror.
02:23David James is another relatively unknown South African actor who played a major role
02:27in District 9.
02:29James portrayed one of the film's main antagonists, Kubis Venter, a ruthless and sadistic MNU
02:35mercenary who accompanies Vickis during the eviction of District 9 before attempting to
02:39capture him after he is infected.
02:42As seen throughout the film, Kubis takes great pleasure in torturing and murdering Prawns.
02:46You don't run away from a chopper.
02:49Where do you think you're going?
02:50You want to piss me off?
02:55Since the film makes Kubis so easy to hate, it's fairly cathartic to see the Prawns defeat
02:59Kubis at the end of the movie.
03:01While some other critics deemed James' District 9 performance as deserving of an Oscar, he
03:06mostly played minor roles after its release.
03:08James appeared in several British TV shows, such as Wild at Heart and Kidnap and Ransom.
03:14South African actress and model Vanessa Haywood played Vickis' wife, Tanya, in District 9.
03:20At the beginning of the film, it becomes very clear that Tanya loves Vickis dearly and is
03:24concerned for him when he is taken to the hospital.
03:27After Vickis becomes a fugitive, however, MNU spreads lies that he had sexual relations
03:32with an alien, which leads Tanya to turn on him.
03:35I'm gonna fix my arm and I'm gonna see you again and I'm gonna kiss you and I'm gonna
03:40hold you again.
03:41I don't want you to hold me again.
03:44Near the end of the film, it begins to seem that Tanya's feelings about her husband have
03:48changed again.
03:49She seems forlorn without Vickis, and keeps a metal flower that she believes he made.
03:54This theory is seemingly confirmed by the last shot of the film, which features a Prawn
03:58presumably Vickis, now fully transformed, crafting another metal flower.
04:03Although Haywood hasn't acted in many projects since then, she has still been heavily involved
04:08in the worldwide entertainment industry.
04:10In 2011, Haywood competed in the Survivor South Africa episode Celebs vs. Klebs, which
04:16she says was a phenomenal, life-changing experience for her.
04:20Haywood is also a respected endurance athlete, who is not only married to South African trail
04:24runner Ryan Sands, but has also competed in several races, such as the ABSA Cape Epic,
04:30the Leadville 100, and the Otter Trail Race.
04:34South African actor Mandla Gaduka played Fundiswa Malanga in District 9.
04:39Fundiswa is Vickis' assistant and trainee during the eviction.
04:42In the end, Fundiswa awaits trial for exposing information about MNU's illegal experimentation
04:48on prawns.
04:49Although Gaduka's role in District 9 was small, it had a major impact on the film's climax.
04:54Since the release of District 9, Gaduka found plenty of success in South African television.
04:59He won two South African Film and Television Awards, or SAFTAs, for his work on the comedy
05:04Hautang Maboneng and another one for his work on the soap opera Ashes to Ashes.
05:09Gaduka continued to pop up in several movies after District 9.
05:12He appeared in 2011's Machine Gun Preacher.
05:15In 2015, he portrayed an unnamed Johannesburg resident in Avengers Age of Ultron.
05:20More recently, he appeared in 2019's Losing Lorato.
05:24Halloween actor Eugene Kambanyewa played Obasanjo, the secondary antagonist of District
05:309.
05:31This ominous-looking character is in charge of the Nigerian gang in District 9, which
05:35sells aliens cat food in exchange for their weapons.
05:39Obasanjo believes that he can use alien weaponry if he eats alien flesh.
05:43During the film's climax, one of Obasanjo's men tries to cut off Vickis' mutated arm when
05:48Little CJ remotely activates an exoskeleton inside the Nigerian gang's compound, which
05:53kills all the gangsters and blows up Obasanjo's head.
05:57After District 9, Kambanyewa starred in many television projects from around the world.
06:01He played Pastor Peter in the 2016 British TV movie Demilola, Our Loved Boy.
06:06The film, which also starred Lovecraft Country actress Wanmi Masako, won two British Academy
06:11of Film and Television Awards.
06:14Kambanyewa also appeared in the critically acclaimed Hulu miniseries The Looming Tower
06:17as Trenton Okuku, a Kenyan security guard at the American embassy in Nairobi who survived
06:23the embassy bombing and became a crucial witness.
06:26Additionally, Kambanyewa continued to work with Blomkamp after District 9, playing another
06:30gangster in the 2015 feature Chappie.
06:33He also appeared in Blomkamp's 2017 short film Raka, which, alongside Chappie, starred
06:38Sigourney Weaver.
06:40Kenneth Nikosi played Thomas, a good friend of Vickis, in District 9.
06:44Thomas is an MNU security guard who assists Vickis in the alien eviction, serving as Vickis'
06:50personal security detail.
06:51Although Nikosi played a minor role in District 9, he was already a name in South African
06:56film and likely appeared in the movie to attract South African moviegoers.
07:00Fortunately, Nikosi continued to pop up in movies, TV shows, and live broadcasts.
07:04Some examples of the former include 2011's Scheme and 2015's Ayanda, both of which have
07:10either been nominated for or won SAFTAs.
07:13More recently, he also starred in the 2018 family comedy Frank and Fearless.
07:18He also hosted the SABC2 World Cup in 2010, as well as several South African reality shows,
07:24such as Class Act, Wang Verstana, and Kitchen Queens.
07:29Louis Menard played Piet Smit, one of the main antagonists in District 9.
07:33Piet is the managing director of MNU, who sends his bumbling son-in-law Vickis to evict
07:39aliens from District 9.
07:40While he couldn't have predicted what was going to happen to Vickis, he was probably
07:44hoping for the worst.
07:45I had to put aside the fact that my daughter was married to Vickis.
07:50That didn't factor in my decision to promote her.
07:54After Vickis is infected, Piet decides to vivisect him for research and stares emotionlessly
07:59at his son-in-law as he begs for his life.
08:01After Vickis becomes a fugitive, Piet lies to his daughter, Tanya, that Vickis had sexual
08:06relations with a prawn to turn her against him.
08:08Although his status at the end of the movie is unknown, Piet was likely implicated in
08:12the data leak of MNU's illegal alien experimentation, which he was a large part of.
08:17After District 9, Menard popped up in more movies from around the world.
08:21Some of his South African filmography includes 2012's Semi-Sweet, 2017's Veil-Vaas-Hood,
08:27and 2019's The Harvesters.
08:29Menard also appeared in Clint Eastwood's 2009 Nelson Mandela biopic Invictus.
08:35American actor William Allen Young played Dirk Michaels, the CEO of MNU in District
08:399.
08:40While Allen is one of the more established actors in the film's cast, his character only
08:43appears in two scenes — an interview where he says that the aliens are not going anywhere
08:48and a newscast where he says the explosion at the MNU headquarters is a terrorist attack.
08:53Well, there was a terrorist attack, but I can assure you that we've dealt with it.
08:56Everything is fine.
08:58After District 9, Young made guest appearances on dozens of TV shows, as well as acting in
09:02some movies.
09:03Castle, Madam Secretary, and This Is Us are just a few of the shows that Young popped
09:07up in.
09:08The only movies that Young has acted in since District 9 are TV movies like 2011's Rock
09:12the House, 2014's The Cookie Mobster, and 2019's Christmas Hotel.
09:17Young is also a well-respected humanitarian.
09:20He has received several distinguished awards, including the NAACP Achievement Award, the
09:25President's Icon Award, and the Man of the Year Award from the National Organization
09:29of Women at Work.
09:30Additionally, President Bill Clinton named Young an ambassador of goodwill, which means
09:34that he advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of his notability
09:38as a public figure.
09:41South African actor Robert Hubbs played a minor character in District 9 named Pinar,
09:46an MNU mercenary under the command of Kubus Venter.
09:49He is seen in the firefight with Nigerians near the end of the film, and is ordered to
09:53beat up Christopher to make him talk about his plans with Vickis.
09:56After Pinar is ordered to execute Christopher, the audience sees the slightest trace of a
10:00smile on his face.
10:01He almost pulls the trigger before Vickis uses the exosuit's gun to dismember him.
10:06Since District 9, Hubbs has appeared in several movies and TV shows, such as Mandela, Long
10:11Walk to Freedom, Black Sails, and Warrior.
10:14Hubbs also continued to collaborate with Blomkamp, acting in Chappie in 2015, and two of his
10:19short films, Raqqa and Firebase, in 2017.