Here are some actors and actresses from Ghana blazing the Hollywood industry with many of them winning awards and extending their accomplishment and glory to their place of origin.
Below is a list GhanaWeb has compiled:
1. Idris Elba
Though it is a known fact that Idris Elba is of African descent but who would have believed he had a bloodline in Ghana. Well, now you know.
The mother of the handsome English actor whose career breakthrough came after he played a drug trafficker in Stringer Bell is from Ghana while his dad was a Sierra Leonean. Despite his family background, the talented actor has hardly spent quality time in Africa. He was born in London on 6 September 1972. He has lived in London almost all his life and is the only child of his parents.
2. Peter Mensah
He is one of the most celebrated Ghanaian Hollywood stars. Tears of the Sun actor, Peter Mensah hails from Ghana and is globally recognized. He was born in Chiraa Ghana to Brong Ahafo Region parents on 27 August 1959.
Peter Mensah is definitely not hidden, and we guess you may have known that already from his name and outlook. Peter is an international actor, best known for his roles in Tears of the Sun, Hidalgo, 300, Dead Space, and Starz original series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, and Spartacus: Vengeance.
3. Freema Agyeman
Freema is a famous English actress. She is of mixed descent with a mom from Iran and a Ghanaian dad, called Osei. She gained massive fame for playing Martha Jones in “Doctor Who”, a BBC science fiction series as well as Netflix series “Sense 8”.
You’re not wrong to say you are surprised she has got in her some Ghanaian blood. In the series of movies that debuted following her departure from Doctor Who, Agyeman held a starring role as Alesha Phillips in the crime procedural drama Law & Order: UK, between 2009 and 2012.
4. Boris Kodjoe
Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe, better known as Boris Kodjoe, is an Austrian-born American actor, producer, and former model. Boris is a regular face in Hollywood movies. The Austrian-born star has a German mom and a Ghanaian dad. He gained international fame for his role in “Brown Sugar” where he played Kelby.
5. Cynthia Addai-Robinson Cynthia
She is in the popular movies you may have watched like Vampire Diaries, Spartacus, Shooter, Power, Star Trek, and yes, she is of a Ghanaian bloodline. Cynthia is among the world-famous personalities. She was born in London on January 12, 1985, to a Ghanaian mother and an American father.
In 2020 on essence.com, she said, “I was born in London, my mother’s from Ghana so all of the family that I grew up with around me are all African. My mother and I moved to the Washington D.C. area when I was about 4 years old. Then I eventually left that area to go to school in New York. I feel like I identify with a lot of different places that kind of makeup who I am.”
6. Jaye Davidson
Jaye Davidson is one of the Hollywood stars we believe you never knew has ancestral ties with Ghana. Jaye though born in Riverside, California, his father is Ghanaian and his mother is English. Their family left for England when Jaye was a toddler. The Crying Game, a very controversial movie that showcased his indigenous beauty is one of the most popular movies that brought him to stardom. Now retired is currently working as a fashion stylist in Paris.
7. Michael Blackson
Actor and comedian Michael Blackson whose real name, Jafari Ferguson is no stranger to the motherland (Ghana). In his fame and success uses his African and American life experiences to put smiles on people’s faces. Michael Blankson’s most notable onscreen performance was “Angry African” a 2000 comedy film, Meet the Blacks among other movies he featured in. He has also released his top-selling comedy sketch CD titled Modasucka: Welcome to America.
8. Akosua Dentaa Amoateng
Akosua Dentaa Amoateng MBE, best known by her stage name Dentaa, is a British Ghanaian entrepreneur, actress, TV presenter, singer, producer and manager. She was awarded an MBE in the 2016 Birthday Honours and 2017 she received the Ghana Peace Awards Humanitarian Service Laureate in Accra.
Dentaa is the founder and CEO of the GUBA Enterprise which consists of the GUBA Awards, GUBA Expo, GUBA Foundation, GUBA Careers, GUBA Diaspora Card and GUBA Health.
Mrs. Dentaa Amoateng has positively influenced many through her work with the GUBA Enterprise. The GUBA Awards has been recognized as a community building organization with substantial influence. Her work to improve UK-African relations earned her an MBE in Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II’s 2016 Birthday Honours.
