Long before politics became tied to his name, Kumawood actor Mr Beautiful says he was one of the industry’s regular faces. But according to him, that changed the moment producers began associating him with the NDC.
In an interview with actress and television host Emelia Brobbey, the actor, born Clement Bonney, claimed his political involvement gradually pushed him out of Ghana’s movie scene.
Mr Beautiful explained that the first signs came when some producers began criticising the way he spoke Fante on screen. He said they insisted he needed to sound more like established Twi-speaking stars to fit into certain productions.
He recalled being advised by a man identified as Mr Opoku, who handled subtitles for movies at the time, to model his speech after actors such as Nana Ama McBrown and Agya Koo. According to Mr Beautiful, he refused to abandon his natural accent simply to please producers.
“There was a man, his name is Mr Opoku, who used to do the subtitles for the movies. He started saying he didn’t understand my Fanti. I am a Fanti man, I can’t speak like Agya Koo or McBrown, I’m comfortable speaking my Fanti. I couldn’t fake the language just because they wanted me to,” he explained.
The actor said he later discovered the language complaints were not the real issue.
According to him, a former treasurer of the Ghana Movie Producers Association identified as Paul Gee eventually told him outright that producers were uncomfortable with his political ties.
“He told me clearly that they couldn’t work with me because they saw me in an NDC platform. He told me straight that I was political,” Mr. Beautiful recounted.
After that conversation, he said acting opportunities completely dried up, with producers allegedly refusing to cast him in new projects.
“I wasn’t being called for shoots anymore. No producer was contacting me, including miracle, and that was when I realized it was an industry decision,” he said.
Despite the setback, Mr Beautiful said he chose not to fight for acceptance within the industry. Instead, he decided to move forward on his own terms.
He also believes producers eventually felt the impact of his absence, arguing that he had helped draw audiences from Ghana’s coastal communities into the Akan-language movie market.
According to him, some industry figures later attempted to reconnect with him after noticing a decline in audience reach, but by then he had already closed that chapter.
“Once I make a decision, nobody can change it,” Mr Beautiful stated.
