Profile Text
Birth Name: Neil Joseph William Sandilands
Place of Birth: Randfontein, South Africa
Date of Birth: May 1, 1975
Ethnicity: Afrikaner [Dutch, French Huguenot, German, distant Swiss-German], Scottish, Norwegian
Neil Sandilands is a South African actor, filmmaker, and musician. His roles include the shows 7de Laan , The Americans , The 100 , Hap and Leonard , The Flash , DAM , and Sweet Tooth , and the films Proteus (2003), Coyote Lake , News of the World , Destination Marfa , Slay (2024), and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes .
The Sandilands family in South Africa originated in Scotland. He speaks Afrikaans, his native language, and English.
Neil’s paternal grandfather was Joseph Willem Sandilands (the son of Pieter/Peter Bosman Sandilands and Maria Magdalena Johanna Vorster). Joseph was born in Rustenburg, Transvaal. Pieter was born in Richmond, Cape Colony, the son of Francis John Sandilands, whose father was born in Sanquhar, Dumfriesshire, Scotland; and of Maria Elizabeth Catherina van der Merwe. Neil’s great-grandmother Maria Magdalena was born in Rustenburg, the daughter of Oelof Abraham Vorster and Heybrecht Susanna Cornelia Van Zyl.
Neil’s paternal grandmother was Janetta Isabella Magdalena Botha (the daughter of Pieter Botha and Janetta/Jeanette/Jannetta Isabella Magdalena Barnard). Neil’s grandmother Janetta was born in Rustenburg, Transvaal. Pieter was the son of Reinier Jacobus Botha and Johanna Helena Du Plessis. Neil’s great-grandmother Janetta was the daughter of Jacobus Christiaan Barnard and Jeanetta/Janetta Isabella Magdalena Van Zyl.
Neil’s maternal grandfather was surnamed van der Merwe.
Neil is a second cousin, three times removed, of politician B. J. Vorster , who was Prime Minister of South Africa and State President of South Africa. Neil’s paternal great-great-great-great-grandparents, Johannes Hendrik Vorster and Sophia Aletta Jacoba de Meyer, were also B. J.’s paternal great-grandparents.