Kingsley Yamoah speaks about grieving his younger sister while filming ‘The Billionaire’s Wife’

● Kingsley Yamoah

On the day of his audi­tion for his role in the new Ghanaian Showmax Original ‘The Billionaire’s Wife’, Kingsley Yamoah re­ceived the tragic news of his younger sister’s passing in an accident.

Kingsley plays the no-non­sense billionaire Bill Gyimah, who is described as a “brute, firm and stern man who’s gone through the mill to be­come rich.”

Currently streaming ex­clusively on Showmax, with new episodes released every Thursday, ‘The Billionaire’s Wife’ tells the story of Adepa, a 19-year-old from the slums of Ashaiman who marries an old billionaire with the aim of turning her fortunes around, only to find out that being a billionaire’s wife is the tough­est thing she’s ever done.

In this interview granted Showmax, Mr. Yamoah speaks about his character in the series, what attracted him to the role, and how he managed to overcome his grief.

How did this role come about?

I got a message from the show’s line producer, Dzifa Abla, just a few days before New Year’s Eve. I’ve always wanted to work with Ad-Visors so I showed up for the meeting. After a 7-hour process of auditions and read throughs, I finally signed the contract.

The year had started right, and filming was set to com­mence in four days. On my way back home, I got a call from my younger brother that the last of our siblings had been involved an accident and died on the spot.

I was broken, and won­dered if I could do the job. While pondering over the possibility of going through with the shoot and grieving, I received a heartfelt condo­lences message from pro­duction. That’s when I broke down and wept. After that I made the decision to carry on with the project.

What was it about this story, and your character Bill that made you want to be part of the project?

When I received informa­tion about the character, I got hooked. It said: “Bill is brute, firm and stern; he’s gone through the mill to become rich.” And I told myself, this is the character I can play with great joy.

He has money, connec­tions, influence and the corridors of power are his playground. He’s in this cha­otic and unpredictable world of the rich and powerful, with all the possible scandals that the character is sur­rounded by, and yet he breezes through. It was mouthwater­ing. I was in a hurry to kill the role and I wouldn’t let this slip through my hands.

How does it feel to play a man like Bill – a billionaire who controls everything and gets the world to bend to his will?

I lived through the six weeks of filming on cloud nine. There were times I had to pinch myself and say, “Dude, it’s a script. Wake up.” The costumes, homes and cars – everything was made to look great and I had no other choice than to live in the moment.

Bill is a 55-year-old billionaire who’s just married a 19-year-old girl (Adepa). Did you ever find yourself wrestling with who he is?

When I met Andriana, who plays Adepa, I looked at her stature and age and thought of what I had to do to her during the shoot, and I cringed. Before our first scene, I had to sit with her to tell her about myself, and that my first born is six years older than her – just to let her know that I had no bad inten­tions. I was going to leave no stones unturned in doing what I had to do for the role; that was it.

Take us through your preparation process and how you got into character for this role.

I shut the outside world out for the six weeks we filmed the project. I had just lost my sister, and sympa­thies from the outside world weren’t going to help. I spent a lot of time with the acting coach Mawuli Akpabi.

I singled out each char­acter I had to deal with and how my countenance with them was going to be like, and also how I’d carry myself when two or three of them were with me at the same time. I spent a lot of time alone at the rooftop of the hotel we were staying in, just to get to feel like Bill. I was really alone.

Everyone around me was there for a piece of the pie. I would pick a character and brood over all their schemes and work myself up over their schemes. There was a lot of work on the mindset.

What has been your highlight of working on this project?

Actually, it’s the after­math. Everywhere I go on social media, The Billion­aire’s Wife is in my face. The number of comments I get on people’s impression of the job and the questions that keep coming about upcoming episodes makes me feel good and very grateful.

Looking at your acting career in the Ghanaian film/TV industry, what would you say has been your favourite role to play to date?

This is a tough one. All in all, it’s been the “ brute, firm, stern” roles. I’ve played some really comic roles as well, and I’m sure that will surprise many when they see me playing Bill in The Billion­aire’s Wife.

This is the third Showmax Original title in Ghana, how does it feel being part of the project?

I called the top hierarchy of Ad-Visors and told them I was really grateful that they “put my face on the map.” That really is how I feel. The experience of being a part of the third Showmax Original title in Ghana, for me, has been out of this world.

I left the set with fresh weapons in my acting arse­nal. I’m still trying to take in everything that is happening around me in connection to being a part of this project. I am still floating, imagining the endless opportunities this offers.

 By Spectator Reporter