Netflix thriller showcases rising South African Jewish performers

It’s not every day that two young members of South Africa’s Jewish community appear on Netflix, but for Micaela Tucker and Dean Goldblum, that particular dream has become reality. 

The rising actors feature in No One Saw Us Leave, a gripping new series that’s been making waves on the streaming platform. For both, it’s not just a career milestone but a proud moment of South African and Jewish representation on the global stage. 

The Netflix series, a dark, emotionally charged drama exploring themes of loss, identity, and belonging, allowed the pair to work alongside an international cast and crew while bringing a touch of South African authenticity to the screen. 

The series, based on the memoir of Tamara Trottner, Nadie Nos Vio Partir, starts in the late 1960s in Mexico in a well-to-do Jewish Mexican community where the protagonist, Valeria Goldberg, is in an arranged marriage to Leo Saltzman, the son of a powerful businessman. 

Due to an unforgivable misstep, Valeria’s in-laws and Leo decide to take her children, Tamara and Isaac, abroad without her knowledge. 

Leo and the children flee to Europe under various pretences while Valeria refuses to give them up. She enlists the help of an ex-Mossad agent turned private investigator to track down her children across multiple countries. The chase takes them from Mexico to France and Italy and finally to Israel, where viewers see the vicious custody battle that ensues. 

Filming took place in multiple countries: Mexico, Italy, France, and South Africa, to mirror the storyline of the children being moved far from home and the mother travelling across geographies to find them. 

When Tucker and Goldblum heard that the show was going to be filmed in South Africa, they jumped at the chance to audition, especially since they would be able to reflect their culture as the scenes filmed in South Africa form part of the storyline set in Israel. 

Goldblum, whose dialogue was entirely in Hebrew, said acting in Hebrew was an entirely new experience for him. 

“As an actor, to immerse oneself in a different character, if that character is in a different language, it feels quite foreign, it feels quite transformative in a way,” he said. “My entire audition process was in Hebrew. I had to pop open those Grade 4 Hebrew books, and channel those lessons, which was amazing and a huge gift, and also a really nice challenge.” 

Though Tucker has played many Jewish characters throughout her career, it was also the first time she has had to speak Hebrew in a role. 

“It was great,” she said. “I felt like my time at King David served me well. There was also a Hebrew dialect coach who was there to assist with different pronunciation and translations. It was great, especially because of where, you know, the world is with politics and the like, it was great to be able still to be shooting as though we were in Israel and bringing Hebrew stories to life.” 

Filming in Cape Town took place in October last year, and brought a conclusion to worldwide filming. Tucker said that though they were in Cape Town, they ensured that the setting resembled a kibbutz in Israel as much as possible. 

“We shot it more in the Elgin area of Cape Town, which is green and lush,” she said, “So I think it did give quite an authentic replication of what a kibbutz would look like. The only thing that was challenging about it was that there were only certain people who actually did speak Hebrew, and a lot of the actors aren’t Jewish. The main characters aren’t Jewish in real life, but they do fantastic portrayals of Jewish people. And so, of course, it wasn’t going to be an authentic situation. But it was a fair enough replication given the shooting constraints and all those kinds of things.” 

Both Tucker and Goldblum said that it was a unique experience compared to some of their previous projects because they were able to interact with a crew that was predominantly from Mexico and learn more about the film industry there. 

“It’s a special gift to work on productions around the world,” said Goldblum. “We get to meet so many really cool people from around the world, so it was special to be surrounded by awesome people, skilled filmmakers, and learn more about Mexican culture, different parts of Mexico, to hear stories about where various actors in the show were raised in Mexico.” 

“It was a real learning experience to see how differently the cast and crew operate, as opposed to South African cast and crews that I’ve worked with,” said Tucker. “We had a joint Spanish and South African crew, so there were camera people and crew that were South African, and others that were Spanish, and we all worked together. It wasn’t just a solely Spanish experience, and I feel like we were all very productive.” 

Tucker said that though her role was diminished because of time constraints, “The show is exceptional. I’m not even trying to be biased, but I think it’s one of the best things I’ve watched this year. The portrayal of these real-life characters is fantastic. It’s a really gripping story. And I constantly found myself thinking, ‘Whose side am I on? Am I on the mother or father’s side?’ I felt so deeply for both of these characters, and that’s a good example of great acting and great storytelling. So, to be a part of this kind of show that I really did enjoy watching is a huge triumph for me in my acting career, in spite of how small my role was, and I look forward possibly to working with these actors and directors again in the future.”