The prejudice that dark-skinned actors encounter in Ghana’s film business has been brought to light by Martha Ankomah.
She remembers a producer telling her that her skin tone was a drawback at the PCH Hangouts 2025 Edition:
“Martha, you are too black… the lights we use in acting, when we put the light on you, you won’t shine.”
According to her, such biases pushed many actors to bleach their skin to fit industry beauty standards.
“If you’ve been watching Ghanaian movies for a while, you’ll know that some of them were not fair before, but now they are because they had to maintain it,” she revealed.
For Ankomah, staying true to herself was a matter of faith and upbringing.
She credits her parents and religious values for helping her resist the pressure.
“The Bible says the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. My dad was an Adventist, may he rest in peace, and my mom is a strict Pentecostal,” she shared. She also reflected on how much the industry has evolved, recalling a time when actors relied solely on posters for recognition. “There was nothing like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or Twitter. It was just you being put on a poster.”
