Ghanaian actor Adjetey Anang has added his voice to the call of Omotola Jalade for the need of the Western industry to stop casting Black Americans as Africans in their movies.
Adjetey Anang believes using native Africans for roles in movies that are supposed to tell a story about Africans adds more authenticity as there are talents on the continents who are even more followed than our Western counterparts.
In an interview with Adom Tv, the actor stated “There is a need to bridge the gap since there are equally talented African-born actors and actresses who are more followed than those in the west”
He also asserted that since they had the superior budget, it only made sense they called the shot “At the end of the day, they determined the shots because they have the money. That means we should have investors in our industry to push big budgets. If its about us, we need to project ourselves, but I think its about time they explore our talented actors and actresses. In the spirit of globalization, we shouldn’t close all windows”
The veteran movie actor also continued by adding “Boris Kodjoe and Idris Elba all want to do something here. It will be nice to see Samuel Jackson on a project here. There is a need to have that relationship so that we are not cut entirely. They have their fan base that we can gain from commercially to strengthen our base. Collaboration is good, but they need to give us that to portray our history”
Adjetey Anang would conclude by adding “We West Africans have a way we talk. We all have slightly distinct accents. They generalize it, which is wrong. It comes from a specific place and accents play a role when talking about someone’s story and history. That is why they need to explore some of these things and get the characterization right”
