Ryan Swano
Making an extraordinary impression through her sheer versatility, Nicole Bessick is a South African actress whose career makes perfect sense only once you see the full picture. Born in Cape Town and raised between Kensington and Milnerton, she grew up in the kind of environment where resilience becomes second nature. Her early years included competitive figure skating, a demanding sport that shaped her discipline, and the everyday realities of navigating school life, including being bullied, which she has spoken about with an honesty that hints at the determination she would later bring into the public eye.
A Busy Kid Who Was a Versatile Over-Achiever
To say that Nicole Bessick was a busy kid is an understatement.
She started figure skating at age 3, absolutely loved it and by age 6 she was awarded her Western Province colours, but she still wasn’t satisfied, so she took up piano lessons as well.
As she grew older, the hectic 6-day figure skating training schedule started to infringe on all her other interests so by the time she was around Grade 9, she gave that up and turned to training in ballet dancing.
As if being an ex-pro-am figure skater, an accomplished piano player, a ballet dancer honours student, u19A soccer player, and captain of the u19A softball team was not enough, by Grade 11 she had also enrolled in a performing arts college and was studying performing arts part-time.
When Nicole Bessick matriculated from Milnerton High School near the top of her class, she was head of the school’s cultural wing and already studying towards a performing arts degree. One would think that her path was already geared towards the hustle and bustle of the entertainment world but the young Miss Bessick had other plans. She enrolled to study law at UCT and later also completed entertainment law coursework through a Harvard Law School programme.
Nicole Bessick Making Her Mark as an Actress
It’s an unusual route for an actress, but one that seems to have carved out her unique space in the industry. Her entry into acting began with screen roles that demanded both physicality and presence, the earliest notable one being in the 2013 film Cold Harbour. From there, she steadily became a familiar face on South African television, with appearances in series such as Broken Vows, Binnelanders, Is’Phindiselo and other productions that solidified her as a performer capable of moving between dramatic intensity and action-driven storytelling. There’s a certain clarity and composure in her on-screen work that likely traces back to the combination of athletic discipline and personal resilience she developed long before she ever set foot on a set.
Nicole Bessick can currently be seen in BET Africa’s hit telenovela Black Gold as Sasha Willems, a sharp and enigmatic figure whose arrival is said to bring both opportunity and danger.
Sadly, the short-lived drama series is coming to a finale with BET Africa, on DStv Channel 129, airing double bills every night from Monday, 22 December 2025 until Wednesday 31 December 2025.
As from 1 January 2026 BET Africa ceases to exist. That of course doesn’t mean it will be the last time we get to see Nicole Bessick on her journey as a film and TV actress, and we at Bruinou.com will be keeping a closer eye on her flourishing career.
Nicole Bessick’s managing agency, MLA, lists her performance skills as Actor, Voice Over Artist, MC, Presenter, Singer, Action & Stunts. What is even more impressive is her listed Additional Skills. Those include Boxing (Bantamweight Champion), Mixed Martial Arts, BJJ (White Belt), Padel, Tennis, Singing (mezzo soprano), Piano, Gun Handling, FIgure Skating (SA Champion), Dancing(tap, modern, ballet), Advanced Driving & Advanced Stunts.
Nicole Bessick on Defying the Coloured Stereotype
An important part of Nicole Bessick’s journey as an actress is bringing authenticity to her roles, particularly when portraying a Coloured woman. On SABS’s Expresso Show, about a year ago, Nicole passionately spoke about how important it is to show that the Coloured experience is far more nuanced than what the stereotypes portray.
“What I want is to bring forward how nuanced the Coloured experience is. I think up until very recently it was very stereotyped and I sort of steer clear of roles that bleed into that stereotype, and I’ve been very grateful, especially on a show that I’m working on now, Pound-for-Pound with Paramount.”
“They’ve really allowed me to bring the text to life in a way that’s truly authentic. I got to set her in the Western Cape. I got to use our akkeltjies and our ways of speaking to bring her to life, and playing a character like Crystal on Pound for Pound was really something that I bring home.”
“I bring home, what is it like to be a woman of colour, what is it like to be a Coloured woman.”
“What does that look like in society, in politics, in economics, and how do I bring that to life in a way that allows other Coloured girls who are going to come after me to go: Nicole Bessick did it, I could do it.”
WATCH: Catching Up with the Multi-Talented Nicole Bessick
Pound for Pound, the 2024 13-part series on BET Africa showcasing the resilience of women in the world of boxing, co-starred Nicole Bessick as Crystal Robinson, a boxer dealing with her guilt and self-blame for her daughter’s death.
Nicole Bessick Turns Visibility into Advocacy
That brings us to the other part of Nicole’s journey that truly sets her apart: the ring. Her rise as a celebrity boxing champion earned her the nickname “Action Barbie”. That might sound like a novelty, but for her it became both a passion and a platform.
Nicole Bessick first stepped into the boxing ring back in 2017, when she was challenged by her opponent to compete in the annual Bully Proof Celebrity Boxing event, which sought to raise awareness around bullying. She dedicating herself to training like a professional boxer for the first female celebrity boxing match on the continent. She prevailed and was crowned the first female Celebrity Boxing Champion in Africa.
The physical training fed directly into her action-oriented performances, while the public interest gave her the visibility to speak about issues that matter to her. Over time, boxing became the unexpected bridge between her artistic career and her social activism.
That activism found formal expression in The Fight for Good Foundation, the anti–anti-gender-based violence organisation she founded to help women shift “from victim to warrior”. Through workshops, talks, training sessions and online campaigns, she has positioned herself not only as a performer but also as a public advocate for women’s safety and empowerment. Her legal background has come into play here too, particularly in her willingness to call out or challenge harmful content that normalises violence or misogyny.
What stands out about Nicole Bessick is the sense of cohesion running through all these aspects of her life: the competitive skater, the actress, the boxer, the anti-GBV activist. Each part contributes to a broader story about a South African woman reclaiming strength in multiple forms and using it to push conversations forward. Her impact lies not only in the roles she has played or the titles she has held, but in her advocacy; how she uses her platforms, screens, stages, rings and classrooms to inspire a sense of agency in others.
Nicole continues to build a career that is as purposeful as it is dynamic, and her path suggests she is far from finished defining what a modern South African performer and public figure can be.
