I lost a movie role because I rejected sexual advances from a director – Akofa Edjeani

Ghanaian actress Akofa Edjeani has shared a distressing ordeal she experienced from a director years back.

The actress disclosed this in an interview on Joy FM on Monday while discussing about challenges faced by women in the movie industry.

Akofa Eedjeani said she was once a victim of the disparity women face in the male dominated industry which she said is common in the industry.

She recalled an instance where she reluctantly had to reduce her rates for two movies to be shot back to back because the producer pleaded with her.

According to her, the director for that same project invited her into his room ‘to watch a movie’ but she refused and later found out that the director had dubious intention for inviting her.

“I remember we were shooting somewhere after Kumasi, I think. Unfortunately, the producer was a Nigerian. We were going to shoot two movies back to back. So based on that, the executive producer had begged me to bring my rates down, that because we were doing two movies he would pay a certain amount, which reluctantly I agreed to.

“Now here is the director who asked me to come to his room. I said ‘come to your room and do what?’. He said ‘to watch a movie’. I said ‘watch what movie? I mean come on, whatever you want to tell me, I don’t need to come to your room’. Apparently, he wanted something else. I said ‘like seriously?’ Are you serious?”, she narrated.

She noted that her refusal to heed to the director’s advances led to her removal from the casts for the next movie.

“I didn’t go to his room and guess what, that cost me the next movie. And when I asked the executive producer he said it was the director who was casting but I said ‘you were paying me this amount because we agreed on shooting two movies’. And he said there was nothing he could do about it because it was the director that did the casting,” Akofa stated.

She confidently applauded her boldness and not compromising her dignity for any role.

You can’t make me. I’m already me before I got to where I am now. I didn’t have to do that. My talent has worked for me. If you do not stick to your principles and because you just want to be in a movie, you will fall for it,” Akofa noted.