Jackie Appiah (born 5 December 1983) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

-born

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

ian actress. For her work as an actress, she has received several awards and nominations, including the awards for ''Best Actress in a Leading Role'' at the 2010

Africa Movie Academy Awards The Africa Movie Academy Awards, popularly known as AMAA and The AMA Awards, is presented annually to recognize excellence among professionals working in, or non-African professionals who have contributed to, the African film industry. It was fou ...

; and '' Best Actress in a Supporting Role'' at the

in 2007. She received two nominations for ''Best Actress in a Leading Role'' and ''Best Upcoming Actress'' at the

in 2008.

Early life

Jackie Appiah was born on December 5, 1983, in Toronto, Canada. She is the last of five children. She is a

Ghanaian Canadian Ghanaian Canadians are Canadians of full or partial Ghanaian ancestry. Ghanaians who became naturalized citizens of Canada preferably refer to themselves as ''Ghanaian Canadians''. Overview Ghanaians first immigrated to Canada in the 1960s. Many ...

, as she was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. She spent her early childhood in Canada, and moved to

with her mother at the age of 10. She is popularly known by her maiden name, Appiah. Appiah married Peter Agyemang in 2005 and has one son. Appiah's father is Kwabena Appiah (the younger brother of the late Joe Appiah, a famous

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

), currently residing in Toronto,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada.

Controversy

It was rumoured in 2020 that Jackie Appiah got pregnant for the

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

n president,

George Weah George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah (; born 1 October 1966) is a Liberian politician and former professional footballer who is the incumbent president of Liberia, in office since 2018. Prior to his election to the presidency, Weah served a ...

. However, she dismissed the rumour by taking to her

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

page saying: "Laughter that dispels lies and fabricated stories."

Career

Appiah's appearance on screen became regular when she was invited by Edward Seddoh Junior, the writer of ''Things We Do For Love'', where she played the role of Enyonam Blagogee. She later took part in ''Tentacles'', ''Games People Play'', ''Sun-city'' and many other TV series. Appiah remembers herself as being very shy the first time she went on set: "It was a Venus Film Production titled ''Divine Love'' and I had to play the role of Kate, the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

. I didn’t believe did too good. I fumbled but, many people did not notice it." Despite her nervousness, the first timer said she succeeded in impressing everyone. Appiah says her best part was in ''Mummy’s Daughter'' by Venus Films. The film tells the story of the Bartels Family where she played the role of Princess, the daughter. "I loved how I acted and I was happy with the role I played". Appiah now sees the local film industry as having changed for the better. She thinks that others will see its ultimate success.

Nollywood breakthrough and success

Appiah was already known to

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

through her many successful Ghanaian films including ''Beyoncé - The President Daughter'', ''Princess Tyra'', ''Passion of the Soul'', ''Pretty Queen'', ''The Prince's Bride'', ''The King is Mine ''and ''The Perfect Picture''. Her notable

films include ''Black Soul'' and ''Bitter Blessing'', alongside

actor

Ramsey Noah Ramsey Nouah (born Ramsey Tokunbo Nouah Jr.; 19 December 1970) is a Nigerian actor and director. He won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2010 for his performance in the movie '' The Figurine''. He made his direct ...

and ''My Last Wedding,'' alongside Nollywood actor

Emeka Ike Emeka Ike (born 22 March 1967) is a Nigerian actor. He was a special guest in Monrovia on the occasion of the commissioning of the new pavilion of Center for Democratic Change CDC, in Liberia. Emeka Ike is known for A Million Tears 2 (2006), I ...

. In 2013, she won the Best International Actress award at the ''Papyrus Magazine'' Screen Actors Awards (PAMSAA) 2013. which was held in

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

, Nigeria.

Promotional work

Appiah's face can be seen on many

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s and TV

commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

in Ghana including a GSMF advert on protection against

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

AIDSa. She won the face of U.B in a promotion she did for them on TV commercials and she is currently the face of IPMC for commercials and billboards. "GSMF " was her first TV commercial.

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Personal life

Jackie married Peter Agyemang in 2005 with whom she had one son, Damien. They divorced after three years of marriage.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Appiah, Jackie 1983 births Living people 21st-century Ghanaian actresses Actresses from Toronto Best Actress Africa Movie Academy Award winners Best Supporting Actress Africa Movie Academy Award winners Canadian people of Ghanaian descent Ghanaian film actresses