As Modisane would write in his autobiography: "My mother wanted a better life for her children, a kind of insurance against poverty by trying to give me a prestige profession, and if necessary would go to jail whilst doing it.
Becoming frustrated by the political situation and oppression under the apartheid regime, Modisane moved in 1959 to England, where in 1963 his autobiography, Blame Me on History, was published.
Modisane continued acting and had a leading role in Jean Genet's play The Blacks at the Royal Court Theatre in London.
[5] He appeared in an uncredited role in the 1964 movie Guns at Batasi, which starred Richard Attenborough, John Leyton, and Mia Farrow.
In the 1968 action classic Dark of the Sun, Modisane had a small but memorable supporting role as Corporal Kataki, a sensitive soldier caught up in the rage and horror of the 1960s Congo civil wars.