Natalie Becker started her career as a radio presenter on Good Hope FM, then moved into television as a presenter on lifestyle show Top Billing.
Since her presenting days, she has appeared in several international movies such as The Deal, in which she appeared alongside Meg Ryan and William H Macy.
Becker, who has lived in Norway since 2015, recently spent six months in South Africa to shoot the movie Bypass. The majority of the film was shot in an abandoned hospital in Salt River.
It tells the story of Sam Cooper, a boy waiting at the top of the transplant list for a new liver in the children’s ward of St Luke’s Hospital.
His mother, Dr Lisa Cooper (played by Becker), who’s the head of cardiac surgery, feels helpless at being unable to save her son, despite saving patients’ lives on a daily basis.
When a liver finally becomes available but is destroyed en route to the hospital, the alternative of sourcing an illegal organ becomes her only option.
Lisa turns her back on the system she has devoted her life to and mother and son secretly head off to New Day Clinic in East Africa.
In order to better understand her character, Becker spent time watching cardiac surgeons perform open heart surgery and chatting to them about their work.
“It was astonishing to see these accomplished doctors go about their tasks with such precision and with such smooth calm actions,” said Becker, though she admits to feeling faint while watching the procedures.
At the beginning of Bypass, this is exactly how her character feels, a calm and collected surgeon and mother.
As her character was not involved in any action at this stage, Becker didn’t need much physical training in preparation for her role, and, in reality, a busy mom with a demanding job wouldn’t find time to exercise.
But Lisa becomes a fiercely protective mother out to do whatever it takes to save her son. This is where she required more physical strength to keep up with high adrenalin and fast-paced scenes - especially since she performed her own stunts and didn’t rely on a stunt double.
“The scenes are well planned, executed and supervised, so one is protected from harm, but there are some scenes which included jumping out a window which left a bruise or two,” said Becker, who prepared her body by focusing more on strength training rather than cardio.
But how did she recover from such strenuous days on set? “I like to bathe and often relaxed in a warm bath filled with salts after a long day or nights shooting,” she said.
“It’s calming, healing and restorative. I like to meditate and going for a run, even when tired, it relaxes the body and energises one.”
However, when Becker is not on set, she finds other ways to unwind.
“I like to mix it up and sometimes it’s as simple as road-tripping and exploring nature - our way to reconnect and revive. At other times, a pampering massage with my husband is really good,” she said.
For most of her previous roles, Becker’s characters were always perfectly made up - whether she was playing an assassin or a goddess.
Bypass allowed Becker to keep her look natural and true to her character - a no-nonsense, busy doctor and doting mother who doesn’t have time for lipstick. And, for once, there is not a single false eyelash in sight.
Shooting day and night, it became difficult to cover up fatigue with heavy make-up, but Becker told her make-up artist not to because it added to her character’s authenticity.
Director Shane Vermooten wanted Becker’s character to be real and not a “Hollywood” version of how doctors are usually portrayed with flawless make-up and every hair in place.
Becker admits that she didn’t even bother much with her hair and wore it as her character would - even leaving it unwashed for two weeks.
But that by no means suggests she doesn’t take care of her skin.
“Exercise and healthy eating play a large role in skin health and gives that glow. I also try drinking lots of water and herbal teas to stay hydrated. On set, I stay away from the catering or craft table and stay off the sugar,” said Becker.
She also diligently removes her make-up at the end of the day, as it is essential to give her skin a chance to breathe and refresh for the next day’s shooting.
Off set, and thanks to her husband, Mikkel Becker-Aakervik, Becker has learnt to become more comfortable and free in her natural, make-up-free skin.
Mikkel, who adores her, always tells her that he is unable to see her underneath the make-up.
He feels the same way about how she wears her hair, saying that leaving it to dry naturally is better suited to her spirited nature.
Now, Becker is quite happy to throw the blow-dryer and flat-iron to one side.
It’s in this natural, “raw” state that Mikkel encouraged her to record her audition tape for Bypass. A week before filming began, Vermooten still hadn’t found his leading lady. After seeing Becker’s unrehearsed tape, he knew that he had finally found the right actress for the job.
Movie-goers who are keen to enjoy Bypass on the big screen can see it at Ster-Kinekor theatres from today.