Brainy and sexy actress, Naa Ashorkor, on
Thursday, opened up as never before in a no-
holds-barred interview with NEWS-ONE and makes
rather interesting revelations about her life,
upbringing, career, core values, trials and her future
prospects.
Naa is host of Starr FM’s mid-morning programme,
‘The Zone’, and also runs her own TV show, ‘Tales
from the Powder Room’, on GH-One.
She has starred in some of Ghana’s best
contemporary movies including ‘A Letter From
Adam’, ‘Checkmate’, ‘Adams Apple’, ‘Perfect
Picture’ and ‘Scorned’.
NEWS-ONE asked Naa Ashorkor about her greatest
achievements:
What is the biggest thing you have achieved?
When people ask me about achievements and how
many awards I have won, I have not won many but
I have won some. I really don’t count awards and
nominations as achievements. What I count are the
people who feel I am making a positive difference in
their lives.
For example, I never knew it was possible to
receive phone calls from Facebook until two nights
ago when a girl called me around 1am.
You receive calls at 1am?
Not exactly but I thought this one was strange and
also did not understand how it was from Facebook
so I picked and the caller said she was 29 and
wanted to commit suicide but wanted to talk to me
before the act. I did not know what to say. I listened
to her and she said she takes inspiration from me
but was tired because of family and relationship
issues.
We spoke from that time until I was ready to
prepare for work and by then she had changed her
mind. These are the things that make me happy and
I am glad I have this opportunity to make a
difference in people’s lives. Not many people have
such opportunities in this world.
Are you a very religious person?
Not really. Let me tell you this: In secondary
school, there was a lot of talk about witches and all
that so I used to go for prayer meetings to protect
myself from the witches. There was this time the
pastor said I should allow God to use me to touch
lives and I thought he was talking about me
becoming a pastor’s wife or a lady pastor or
something. But in these last few weeks, I now
understand I am touching lives in a positive way.
Many look up to you as their role model.
When people say I am their role model, it makes me
want to live up to expectation. But I say to myself,
just keep doing you and the people who look up to
you need never to be disappointed.
Hosting mid-morning radio in Accra is a challenging
task. Many doubted your competence. You have
proven them wrong. What was the magic?
I would be honest with you. When Bola Ray asked
me to host Mid-morning on Starr FM, I said no. Not
‘no’ to radio but to hosting mid-morning because it
was too big. I said I would prefer hosting a
women’s programme on Saturday evenings or
something less challenging until I grow into it and
then maybe a year later, I take up bigger
challenges.
But he said I could do it and I felt he would not
gamble with his investments and so if he believed I
could do it, why not? Then I can do it. For the first
three days, I was trying to sound fantastic and it
was a lot of mess. I was just all over the place.
After that, I decided to relax and just be me. I’ve
been a very odd freak of people on radio and TV
and I could recite the intros of many of them. And I
attempted to do radio like I have known how the
others do it. But when I decided to be me, laugh at
my mistakes, read the LPMs like I was reading any
other sheet of paper, things became easier for me.
There is a tendency to sound a certain way once a
microphone is set before you. TV is audio-visual
and viewers could see your emotions but on radio,
it is different and I had to just be me. There is a
hashtag on Tigo—‘Keep Doing You’—and that was
what I decided to do. If you listen to me on radio or
anywhere else, I talk the same. Being me is how
I’ve survived and I keep growing every day.
You got married just when you started hosting mid-
morning radio. Double pressure; you must be
superhuman to have survived.
Oh I don’t think so. I just like to take it easy and did
not pressure myself. There is pressure on those
who want to be pressured. Sometimes you see
people and they seem they have no problems but
they have huge problems. And there are people
walking around and acting like the whole world is
coming to an end but they are only hungry and need
food. It is the attitude we adopt that makes the
difference.
When I started radio, it was challenging and I was
trying my best.
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I could not even understand the consul and which
button to press when. I know music but not the
names of the musicians and yet I was to decide
which music to play. But I had a fantastic DJ who
helped me—DJ Mono.
I remember there was this guy at Airtel who wrote
a whole write-up about how I was terrible and
some even said I was a square peg in a round hole.
But I am grateful to God it is working out.
Those who thought I would fail are changing their
minds and people now listen to me not because
there are no competitors but because they can see
I am getting better.
There are fears marriage would affect your career
adversely.
No I don’t think so. It has not. It won’t.
Before Naa became a famous person, who was
she?
I am still all that I was—just an ordinary girl.
Primary school, I was very loud; JSS, I was a very
quiet girl; SSS, I was talking everywhere. I was SRC
vice president and secretary for my region. I did a
lot of school debates and even won a few cups for
my school and I enjoyed it.
I think I got to know myself better in secondary
school—the sort of person I was, the things I like to
do and the things I won’t like to do. Before GIJ, I
was in a lot of school activities and debates. I loved
to be heard and to champion strange courses. That
is what people would remember me for.
Were you the same at the GIJ?
I was very quiet in GIJ.
But you still found something special in GIJ?
You mean in GIJ? You mean my husband? Oh yes. I
met him in GIJ. I don’t know if people really
remember me in the GIJ. For my first three years
there, I was not on TV. I started TV in the third year
and I believe that was when some of my mates
even saw me for the first time.
You acted ‘Kabuki’ in Lydia Forson’s ‘Letter from
Adam’ and got married in the movie which was
premiered just when you got married in real life?
Was it a hype for the movie?
Ah! You mean I got married to push someone’s
movie? It was pure coincidence and I did not even
realise the coincidence until people started talking
about it. We shot that movie when? I can’t even
remember. But Lydia booked the Silverbird Cinemas
about six months before the premiere date. It has
nothing to do with my marriage.
How do you manage to stay away from controversy
or scandals as a showbiz person?
Well, I don’t know. Maybe my mother always told
me that if I stayed at home, I won’t get into trouble
and that has really entered my head. She always
said trouble cannot come to you when you are in
your home. It has helped me a lot. I work with an
event organising company and it is only when we
have events that you would see me out. I feel
comfortable at home and at places where I am safe.
If you read all the stories about celebrities in
trouble, they mostly got into trouble when they went
somewhere or said something.
You are an actress, a TV presenter and a radio
presenter; which pays the most?
It depends on who you are working for that would
determine how much you are going to get. I think
acting has paid me the most and I am looking at the
biggest amount of money I have received at a time
and that came from acting.
Would you become a movie producer someday like
your colleagues?
I am so happy they are becoming producers
because it would make our industry bigger. But I
would rather want to produce a stage play. I love
movies; they are great but I love stage plays. They
are challenging and I would want to promote that.
Are you pregnant as reports say?
I also heard about that. It is not true. But if it is true,
I am not aware.
Anything you would want to tell your fans and
readers of this interview?
We are in an overcrowded world with too many
people competing to be seen. The best you can be
is to just be you and not try to be anybody else.
Anybody else is taken and your best bet is to be
you. Grab opportunities when they come and never
say ‘I can’t do it’. Just try because it is only when
you try that you can say you can or cannot. But
you’ve just got to try.
Thanks for the interview, Naa.
Thanks too for the opportunity, Halifax.
