Bio
Minke Marais is a South African actress well known for her roles in Afrikaans television drama series.
An actress since her school days, she received numerous awards and accolades for performing at her high school, Hoërskool Noordheuwel in Krugersdorp.
After matriculating in 2019, she furthered her dramatic studies with an acting course taught by Brümilda van Rensburg and completed a BA Drama and Theatre at the University of Stellenbosch from 2020-2023.
Minke made her television acting debut as the character Mieke in an episode of the kykNET drama series Projeck Dina which aired on 19 April, 2022 (Season 2, Episode 8).
A couple of weeks later she began recurring in the role of Jolene on the kykNET drama series Dinge van 'n Kind, based on the novel by Marita van der Vyver which revolves around the trials and tribulations of Mart Vermaak. in a coming-of-age, multigenerational drama which takes place against the backdrop of political upheavals in the late 1970s.
Her first appearance on the shows was in the series premiere on 10 May, 2022.
Another guest role on a kykNET drama followed, this time as the teenage version of lead character Jana (played by Trix Vivier) in the series Fraksie. Her character appeared in Season 1, Episode, which aired on 1 November, 2022.
The following year she played the recurring role of Miempie in the kykNET drama series Mooiweer en Warm, first appearing in the series premiere on 7 February, 2023.
The next year she recurred in the role of Juliet in the Showmax teen drama series Wyfie, which aired on the now-defunct streamer from 12 February, 2024 to 7 January, 2025.
Minke landed her first English-language drama role when she was cast in the recurring role of Amy in the long-running M-Net drama series Summertide, making her first appearance in Season 1, Episode 32 (which aired on 1 September, 2024).
She then landed her first starring role in television when she was cast as Shani Brink, a schoolgirl who dreams of escaping her small suburb for global acting fame, in the Showmax teen telenovela Reënboogrant (Rainbow Ridge), adapted from Louise van Niekerk's 1990s young adult books.
The first season ran for 45 episodes on Showmax from January to June, 2025; the show returned for Season 2 on kykNET on 28 August, 2026.
A few weeks after Reënboogrant began she guest starred in the role of Amy in an episode of the Netflix comedy-drama series Tuiskoms, which debuted worldwide on 28 February, 2025.
Minke next played another starring role, this time as Mia, the daughter of Lukas du Preez (Jacques Bessenger), a widowed reverend living in Kalfiebaai, on the kykNET crime drama series Die Oord (The Resort).
The series premiered on 14 April, 2026.
Also in 2026, she starred in the role of Adri, the daughter of a psychiatrist who gets ensnared by a cult, in the Showmax psychological thriller series Ontwaak.