From The Streets Of Ghana To Hollywood – Meet Abraham Attah

God has his own way of blessing people.

Abraham Attah, a first-timer in acting from Ghana, starred in a Netflix movie, Beats Of No Nation, alongside Edris Elba, Ama K. Abebrese among others and has since changed his life for good.

According to BusinessInsider, the director of Beats Of No Nation, Cary Fukunaga told the story of how he met and cast Abraham Attah for the leading role of his movie.

THE LEAD IN ‘BEASTS OF NO NATION’ WAS ESSENTIALLY A STREET VENDOR BEFORE WE SHOT THE FILM,” FUKUNAGA TOLD SCHAMUS AND THE AUDIENCE.

“HE HAD ZERO FILM EXPERIENCE, LITTLE EDUCATION…BUT HE BECAME A SOMEWHAT PROFESSIONAL ACTOR, WHICH WAS ASTOUNDING TO WATCH.”

HIS NAME IS ABRAHAM ATTAH, AND HE IS A 14-YEAR-OLD WHO PLAYS AN 11-YEAR-OLD CHILD SOLDIER IN THE FILM. ABRAHAM’S CHARACTER JOINS A MILITANT GROUP FROM AN UNNAMED WEST AFRICAN COUNTRY THAT IS LED BY A BRUTAL WARLORD, PLAYED BY IDRIS ELBA (“LUTHER”).

But Abraham initially had to fight for the role. According to Fukunaga, it was an interesting casting process:

“WE GATHERED A BUNCH OF KIDS WHO HAD POTENTIAL, ABOUT 30 OF THEM AND WE DID THIS THEATER WORKSHOP AND TRIED SCENES THAT WERE IN THE SCRIPT AND WE WOULD IMPROVISE AND SEE IF THESE KIDS COULD PLAY A VARIETY OF EMOTIONS AND ACTIONS THAT TAKE PLACE IN THE STORY. AND THE KIDS ARE FAST LEARNERS, THEY QUICKLY UNDERSTOOD THAT THE BETTER THEY DID, THE LONGER THEY STAYED [IN THE RUNNING FOR THE ROLE].”

Fukunaga touched on the amazing progression of Abraham as an actor when speaking about the most difficult scene during filming:

“WE HAD A DIFFICULT ONE LONG TAKE THAT HE HAD TO PERFORM; PROBABLY THE MOST INTENSE THING I EVER ASKED HIM TO DO IN THE FILM. HE HAD SIX OR SEVEN KIDS AROUND HIM PERFORMING [IN THE SCENE], AND I WATCHED HIM BECOME A LEADER AMONG THESE KIDS AND MAKE SURE THEY STAYED IN FOCUS AND NOT F— UP THE SHOT SO THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO DO IT OVER AGAIN. I GAVE ALMOST NO DIRECTION TO THOSE KIDS, ABRAHAM WAS DRIVING THAT SCENE.”

Abraham won big at the recently ended Venice Film Festival. See Photos of Abraham Attah below.

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Abraham Attah and Edris Elba in the movie, Beats Of No Nation

Netflix

Abraham Attah and Edris Elba in the movie

Netflix

Ama K. Abebresse, Edris Elba and Abraham on the cover of the movie

Netflix

 

Abraham Attah at the Venice Film Festival

Abraham Attah with his award

See photos of when Abraham Attah presented at the Oscars and won “best male actor” award at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Credit: omgvoice.com

From The Streets Of Ghana To Hollywood – Meet Abraham Attah