Colossium Magazine December issue | Page 22

Colossium Magazine caught up with actor Adjetey Anang at Urban Grill, Stanbic Heights; and here’s what he said about his role in the 90’s TV series ‘Things We Do For Love’ and the film industry. COLOSSIUM: Are you a social media person? ADJETEY ANANG: Yeah but I went off for a while. I went off Facebook because of constant impersonation. I was once invited by the Cyber Depart- ment at the Police Headquar- ters to help them with an investigation. I think the last time I heard from them was when they tracked a first year student from IPS for imper- sonation - he had dubbed a Ghanaian - American. That was where I decided to go off Facebook for a while; I have not been there for about 3yrs now. CLS: I can understand, I mean you are an icon. I dare say that you’re our version of George Clooney. Down at the recep- tion I could see people trying to take pictures with you. But hey, social media is what it is today. ADJ: Yeah. I never say ‘Never’. I actually have a cousin who is in to social media and stuff so he is trying to rebrand it so it’s much safer for me then I can come back. CLS: You are really an open person. When I reached out 22 | Colossium . December 2018 to you on Instagram, I didn’t expect an immediate response from you but...here we are now. ADJ: [Smiles] Yeah, I know. I try. It is not always a norm. At least I try to sample a few messages. I can’t go answering everyone. I mostly respond to business related messages. Once in a while, I try to an- swer other messages. It’s tough to do that and be consistent. CLS: What do your fans nor- mally say to you on social media? ADJ: Some reach out express- ing their interest in acting and looking for opportunities - that is one part. Then there are oth- ers that want to appreciate and encourage me. But of course there is the 3rd party who I label as the ‘Brave Ones’ who will say “I don’t care, I want to date you” hahaha but those are the minority. So these are the 3 categories that I deal with. CLS: Our younger generation are indeed trying to achieve everything overnight and at all cost. How was the journey for you, growing up in the indus- try? ADJ: I don’t know if it was my orientation whiles growing up. You know the whole culture of school-school-school and making sure you’re amongst the best or you’re the best. In most cases I’ve had to do it the hard way and staying in the process. That is also not to say that I don’t understand the younger generation because I do - sometimes. They want the shortest way out because of the times we find ourselves and how tough it can be but it’s still not an excuse. The process is needed; it builds you and prepares you so there’s the need for us to go through the process. For me even though people kept ringing it in my ears that “you’re good”; “you have the talent”, there were times it got into my head but I never forgot the fundamen- tal rule that I needed to go to school even at the point I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do. Even at the National Theatre when I joined legends like David Dontoh, the late Solomon Sampah and co; I was learning under these people and took a long time for me to get on stage. I had to learn from these people to better myself and it wasn’t a time wasting period, it was for me to really process everything they were doing and evolve. “ Therefore how responsible are we for the products we are putting out there? How skillful are we being?” CLS: At what point did you discover yourself? ADJ: I’ve always loved mov- ies. I’ve always loved acting. Seeing people transform into characters they are not and doing it so convincingly al- ways fascinated me but then I didn’t see myself performing in front of the camera -