COVID–19 has affected us big time—Actors lament

IT was an industry that was already experiencing rough times but now COVID–19 has brought the Ghanaian movie sector to its knees and its players are lamenting how badly they have been affected.

Productions have been halted, and with a ban on public gatherings movie premieres and showings have been halted. What this means is that everyone along the filmmaking chain has been hit hard by this pandemic.

In interviews with Graphic Showbiz, some actors said they were ready to see the back of the virus which has crippled their industry.

Comedic actor, Richard Asante, popularly known as Kalybos, said he was just praying for COVID–19 to be over so that he could go back to doing what he knew best.

“Nothing is going on for me. I am just there hoping for things to come back to normal. The beginning of the year was very okay for me until COVID-19 set in. I shot three movies in January alone and I knew this year was going to go well for me until COVID-19 hit the world.

“It was not only movies, I had a lot of deals where I go out to promote products of companies but all that is on hold because of  COVID-19,” he said.

Kalybos revealed that he has fasted on three different occasions, pleading with God to take the pandemic away.

“I have fasted and prayed three times, telling God to take this virus away because I am hugely affected. This is what I depend on for survival,” he added.

Kwadwo Nkansah aka Lil Win

For Kwadwo Nkansah, better known as Lil Win, the only thing keeping him afloat is his profits from other businesses he ventured into.

“Had it not been that I was smart enough to invest in other areas and do some savings, I would have been found wanting by now. That is why I keep telling my colleagues to invest wisely because you can never tell what lies ahead of you,” he told Graphic Showbiz.

According to Lil Win, no one can say they have not been affected by the deadly virus.“Everyone has been affected one way or the other by the virus to the extent that no one can move to other countries and all football is on hold. That should tell you how deadly the virus is,” he said.

Kobi Rana

Movie producer/actor, Kobi Rana, revealed that he had paid actors in his movie Ramadan and was ready to promote it, only for COVID-19 to set in.

“I had done a big-budget movie and was ready to premiere it at the Silverbird Cinemas and the universities but all that did not happen because of COVID-19.  It has affected everything and we can’t wait for it to disappear,” he said.

Actress Akyere Bruwaa said COVID-19 had affected her more than anybody else in Ghana. “I never planned for this and truth be told, things have not been easy for me since this virus came into the country.

Actress Akyere Bruwaa

"I am just trying to survive one day at a time and I can’t wait for COVID-19 to go away. Before the pandemic, the movie industry was doing badly but now it is worse. I am just hoping and praying that COVID-19 will be a thing of the past soon,” she said.

Movie producer, Mustapha Adams of AA Productions, said at this point, the only thing he had to do was to wait for everything to go back to normal.

“Every individual has been affected by COVID-19, and with our kind of work that involves people, it is difficult. We are suffering and this is the time we need to start thinking outside the box and start other businesses,” he said.

For his part, Akwasi Boadi, affectionately called Akrobeto, said no one expected COVID-19 to affect everything like it had done.

“Not only actors have been affected by COVID-19 but everyone around the world. We have to be extra careful so that we curb the spread of the virus because the rate at which the numbers are going up is disturbing,” he said.