One issue that actors have to deal with is that people continue to define them by their most recognizable roles, even when they are not onscreen. This is especially a problem when you play a role for a while and it’s a massively popular character on a popular show.
Any lover of Nigerian movies would be aware of this phenomenon, which has on various occasions forced actress Patience Ozorkwor to come out and make clear that she’s not a wicked person because people take the characters she often plays too literally.
One Ghanaian actor facing the same issue is Richmond Xavier Amoakoh, also known as Lawyer Nti from ‘Kejetia vs Makola’.
Lawyer Nti is the funniest character on the show and his character has wowed Ghanaians with his degree from the ‘Ghana School of the Law’ and his unique way of defending his clients.
However, Richmond said due to his role on the show people think he’s anti-social when he meets them because he’s not as funny as Lawyer Nti in real life.
“People say I’m anti-social, when they see me – the lawyer Nti effect – they expect me to be joking when I’m walking in town and I can’t do that. When I’m lawyer Nti, I’m lawyer Nti, when I’m not, I’m not,” he said in an interview on Hitz Fm.
“When I know I’m talking as lawyer Nti, I talk as lawyer Nti, when I’m talking as Richmond then I talk like Richmond, it depends on where and when I’m speaking,” he added.
He also said the ‘broken English’ spoken by Lawyer Nti is not the same English he speaks in his own life. Amoakoh said he’s not the best at speaking English but when it comes to writing it, he’s quite good at it.
“I don’t speak English very well… when people say [playing Lawyer Nti] affects me… it’s does not in any way, my English level is the same, my English is not good, I can’t speak very well but I write very well”.
Source: GhanaCelebrities.Com