A handful of Ghanaian actors have made the journey from Accra or from the British-Ghanaian diaspora to the biggest screens in the world. These are the ones who made it, and how they did it.
Idris Elba
The most globally successful actor of Ghanaian heritage. Born in Hackney to a Sierra Leonean-Ghanaian family, he spent years hustling in New York before The Wire turned him into one of television's most iconic figures. Luther, Beasts of No Nation, the Bond villain Brixton, the range is extraordinary. Read full profile →
Michaela Coel
The writer-director-actress who turned a personal experience into I May Destroy You, the show that won her an Emmy, a BAFTA and a place in the conversation about the greatest television writing of the 2010s. She rejected a $1 million Netflix offer to retain creative control of the show. That decision alone tells you everything. Read full profile →
Abraham Attah
The 14-year-old from Chorkor who was cast in Beasts of No Nation having never acted before. His performance opposite Idris Elba won him the Marcello Mastroianni Award at Venice, the first African actor to win it. He later appeared in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Read full profile →
Peter Mensah
The Ghanaian-British actor best known for playing Oenomaus in Spartacus: Blood and Sand and its spin-offs, and the Persian messenger in 300, the one kicked down the well. He has built a career as a dependable presence in American action television and film spanning three decades. Read full profile →
Freema Agyeman
London-born of Ghanaian and Iranian descent, she became the first Black companion in Doctor Who's modern era when she was cast as Martha Jones in 2006. She later starred in the Netflix global hit Sense8 and the American medical drama New Amsterdam. Read full profile →
Akosua Busia
Daughter of former Ghanaian head of state Kofi Busia, she is best known for playing Nettie in The Color Purple (1985) alongside Whoopi Goldberg. She is also a novelist whose debut The Seasons of Beento Blackbird was published to wide acclaim. Read full profile →
Reggie Yates
The British-Ghanaian actor and television presenter who has built a career that crosses documentary journalism (his BBC Three Extreme UK series), drama (Rose and Maloney) and presenting. He is one of the most versatile broadcasters Ghana has produced in the diaspora. Read full profile →
Robert Bathurst
Veteran British actor of Ghanaian heritage best known for Cold Feet and Downton Abbey. A stage-trained performer who has appeared continuously in British television drama since the 1980s. Read full profile →
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