Jackie soars

Actress, Jackie Appiah has never had it so good. The recent award she picked up at the Africa Movie Academy Awards in Nigeria for ‘best supporting actress’ for her role in ‘Beyonce’ seems to have propelled her to the forefront of movie producers in Ghana and several other African countries.

Jackie has come a long way and she’s bracing herself up for all the opportunities she expects to come her way. “I believe I am getting there,” she says. “I want to be the kind of actress that will set a mark in the Ghanaian industry that people will want to watch and learn something from me.”

As if to prove to her fellow actors that she’s almost ‘arrived’, Jackie has taken on her most challenging role to date -- playing twins in an upcoming film. In between scenes, Jackie took sometime to tell JIVE about the difficulties of playing that role. “In my current movie I’m playing twins,” she says. “One has a way of speaking royally and the other is funky. It sometimes it gets confusing when you have to speak this way or that way and all together I have 74 scenes.”

That shows that Jackie, who started off in ‘Things we do for love’ has indeed joined the top flight of Ghanaian acting. She came to the attention of the producers of the programme after participating in a talent hunt contest in 2000. But she didn’t envisage that seven years down the line, she would be receiving an award in Nigeria for her acting prowess. Her first feature film was Divine Love, with Venus Films in 2004 and since then, she’s been in countless other movies. “I feel very privileged that I got the (Nigerian) award and it’s given me courage that Ghanaian movies will go far,” she says. But she concedes that she still has a long way to go. “I’m still learning, I need to watch more movies to improve upon my acting, read more books…go to acting school and learn some new techniques.”

Despite the various criticisms, Jackie, who has been the poster girl for IPMC -- an ICT training company -- believes that the Ghanaian film industry has grown over the past few years and that the growth prospects are good. “Acting in Ghana is beginning to pay, it’s getting better,” she says. “But it depends on how many movies you shoot. You make money when you are shooting movies over and over again. If it is on a regular basis, it’s fine. But when you have to wait 2 or 3 months (before your next project) then there is a problem.” Money is not the only problem, though.

Jackie says she’s always grappling with other challenges and acting, sometimes, is not as glamorous as it’s often cranked up to be. “The worst moment is when you are on set and you don’t know your lines,” she says. “It is very stressful. The directors get cross with you and it can be very hard. You need to devote your time to learning the script, understand and know the character you are playing.”

The award at the Africa Movie Academy Awards, according to Jackie, makes waking up to face these challenges all the more worthwhile. Since she picked up the plaque, her inbox has been overflowing with several offers from movie makers, eager to work with her. But she’s taking everything in her stride. “I’ve become more reserved now because you can’t go anywhere without people noticing you. It gives you no privacy. I’m grateful to my fans for all the support they’ve given me. I really cherish them ‘cos I know that I’m here because of them. But now I’d rather stay at home and watch a movie than to go out.” In between learning lines and taking care of her son, Damien, Jackie hopes to make time study… not acting but law.

By Winifred hMensa