What happens when you lose your father just four months after becoming one? How do you continue to show up, day after day, in an industry that demands your image but rarely sees your soul? And how do you transmute decades of pain into presence, craft, and a deeper way of being?

In this profoundly introspective episode of Listen To Your Footsteps, host Kojo Baffoe sits down with actor, producer, and creative multi-hyphenate Clint Brink for a conversation that peels back the public persona and gets to the raw truth beneath. From the emotional intensity of growing up in a politically active home during the tail end of apartheid, to his early defiance of expectations and entry into the world of television, Clint shares the story behind the story, a journey shaped as much by grief and sacrifice as it is by discipline and conviction.

Clint opens up about the personal costs of performance and the tension between celebrity culture and authentic living. He speaks candidly about the moment he realised acting wasn’t just a career, it was a calling. A spiritual discipline. A method of undoing ego and stepping into truth.

“Acting is not about fame and fortune. It’s about inspiring humanity. And that’s a weighty calling.”

This is not a typical actor interview. There’s no red carpet gloss here. Instead, Clint discusses what it means to be a Black and Coloured South African actor in a fragmented, still-young media industry, one that continues to sideline creators, deny royalties, and divide audiences by language and race. He recounts how, even after decades of consistent work, his return to the screen in Kings of Joburg was framed as a comeback by those unaware of his nine-year presence on Afrikaans television.

It’s in the intimate reflections on fatherhood and grief, however, where this episode reaches emotional depth. Clint speaks about his father’s passing, which happened exactly two years prior to the day of recording, and how he barely made it in time to say goodbye. That experience, layered with the responsibility of raising his own daughter, gave him new perspective:

“I want her to have a good nervous system. Peace. I’m building that, day by day.”

Through stories of struggle and self-reflection, he makes a powerful case for rethinking manhood, not as a posture of unemotional detachment, but as a practice of presence. He shares how martial arts, music, and mindfulness have helped him metabolise trauma and recalibrate his emotional compass.

The conversation also explores:

• The discipline of showing up after loss, and what it meant to return to work a week after burying his father

• Why he turned down a full scholarship after a national acting competition, and what that decision taught him about integrity

• The quiet trauma of always being underestimated, and how it shaped his pursuit of excellence

• His critique of the performance of masculinity, and why his greatest role is the one he plays at home

• How grief, when embraced, can deepen us and give meaning to the time we still have

“Your talent gets you in the room. But your story, that’s what transforms people.”

For listeners navigating personal transition, creative burnout, loss, or reinvention, this episode is a powerful reminder: you are allowed to grow slowly. You are allowed to change. And sometimes, the very thing that breaks you open is the thing that leads you back to yourself.

This episode is an invitation to rethink what it means to create, to love, to endure, and to work in a way that ultimately transforms you.

You can find the latest from Clint on the following platforms:⁠ Instagram | Twitter [aka X]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Subscribe to:

• ​⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Watch/Listen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• ⁠⁠​⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Zebra Culture Newslette⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Recorded at Spotify Africa Joburg Studio

Show Music by Kweku 'Taygo' Baffoe

Produced by Ayob Vania