Lupita N’yongo: What Our Ghanaian Actresses Can Learn From Her

The whole world is raving about her at the moment. This simple, classy, educated, and highly intelligent woman has shown us in order to stand out in whatever field you endeavour in, there are certain qualities or characteristics you must have or aspire to have.

Comparing this incredible woman’s career to that of our fellow Ghanaian actresses, there is an incredible amount of difference in even just the way she comports herself. We can confidently say that the ‘12 years a slave’ actress has made an indelible mark for herself and we can’t wait for more from her!.

Comparing the story of Lupita to her fellow counterparts in the Ghanaian movie Industry, there are few tips they can pick up because Lupita’s feat can also be achieved by them—-after all, she is also an African.

Get an education– Lupita knew that she wanted a career in the film and arts industry, as such she made sure she acquired the necessary skills and knowledge by going to school. Even though she might have had a respected level of natural talent, she knew the importance of educating herself. After obtaining a degree in film and theatre studies, she subsequently enrolled in the acting program at the Yale school of drama, to further deepen her knowledge in the arts.

Then, she was cast in 12 years a slave right after her graduation from Yale. Comparing this to her Ghanaian counterparts, most of them have received little or no training in acting. Even after achieving some sort of success, in the Ghanaian film industry, they have simply refused to go to acting school to improve on their craft. That is why you find the same actor/actresses playing the same roles with the same facial expressions in all their movies.

Be in the news for the right reasons-The first time I heard of Lupita, it was about her performance in ’12 years a slave’. Any subsequent news about her has always been related to her career. As compared to our actresses, most of them are in the news for one wrong reason or the other. If it is not about their relationship problems, then it is about how they have enhanced their skin or some really unnecessary reason.

Our actresses seem to think that the key to being an acclaimed actress is by showcasing the number of Louis Vuitton bags they own, or by showing us how much they spend on vacation. For Lupita, the numerous international awards she has been nominated for and has won; including a nomination in the highly coveted Oscar Awards, are the only things she has to show off, after all those are the only indicators of how successful you are as an actress.

Be proud of your heritage-Lupita probably has access to the best hair money can buy, but we always see her keeping it simple with her gorgeous African kinky hair. She can afford to buy the best bleaching cream, but we see that she has maintained her dark, rich, luminous African skin.

She schooled and lived in the United States, but her accent still has an African tone to it. From my perspective, she rather focused on improving her craft, knowing that with the amount of talent she has to offer, she doesn’t need to change any aspect of her physical appearance to fit in.

Some of our actresses who have lived and schooled in Ghana all their lives, speak with very incomprehensible accents because they mistakenly think they can break into Hollywood with such an accent, forgetting that you can never sound more American than an American, same way an American can never sound more African than an African.

Keeping it classy– For me one of the reasons Lupita has commanded so much respect and admiration, well apart from her performance in ’12 years a slave’ is also because of the way she carries herself. She is such a class act. She has kept her body totally toned up and in shape, she speaks very eloquently and her dress sense is to die for!

At awards shows, she always turns up looking beautiful, sexy, and feminine yet covered up. She understands that to be beautiful, one need not expose all body parts. Just look through pictures of Ghanaian celebrities from our archives and you would understand what I am talking about.

I hope our fellow Ghanaian actresses can pick a thing or 2 about Lupita’s success story that is if they are really serious about improving their acting careers.