The rock star turned activist turned Sopranos actor talks about his revealing new documentary, Disciple, his unlikely career and his fears over the state of the world

For Stevie Van Zandt, unique as the consigliere to both Bruce Springsteen and Tony Soprano, the moment of political awakening came four decades ago in white minority rule South Africa.

“I was in a cab and a Black guy stepped off the kerb and the cab driver swerved to try and hit him,” Van Zandt, 73, recalls. “He [the driver] says, ‘Fucking kaffir’, which of course was the Afrikaans word for [N-word]. I couldn’t quite believe what I’d just seen – whoa! let me out.

When Naissa tells his mother Daniela that he identifies as a trans man she struggles to understand. Through candid personal letters exchanged over three years, Dear Mamma follows Naissa as he stands firmly for his independence and identity, and Daniela as she wrestles with her fear of losing a child. As Naissa embarks on his professional dance career and proudly embodies his gender, his mother also embarks on a journey of understanding and acceptance of her son’s choices

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