Wednesday, April 07, 1999
'ER' actress dreams about having it all
BY JOHN KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Akosua Busia had vowed to turn down all acting jobs until her daughter turned 2 this month. Then ER called.
So the actress, writer and artist broke her promise to play West African native Kubby Ekabo on TV's No. 1 show.
“I had said I would not go back to acting until my baby turned 2,” Ms. Busia says about her daughter, Hadar. She and filmmaker John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood) broke up soon after their baby was born.
Ms. Busia and Djimon Hounsou (Amistad) were hired by ER for a powerful subplot about two tortured political refugees to deflect attention from George Clooney's Feb. 18 departure. But NBC short-circuited the story by spreading the five shows over three months. Much has been lost in transit.
In Thursday's show, Dr. Greene (Anthony Edwards) tries to prevent Mobalage's (Mr. Hounsou) deportation and encourages him to recall his torture nightmare.
West African princess
As interesting as the story line is, Ms. Busia's off-screen life is far more so.
She was born a princess into the Royal House of Wenchi in Ghana, West Africa. Her father was prime minister; her mother a fashion designer.
When she was a teen-ager, her paintings were displayed at the National Museum of Art in London. She also won the role of “Juliet” in Romeo and Juliet at Oxford University.
She made her movie debut in Ashanti 20 years ago with Michael Caine, Rex Harrison and Omar Sharif. But her big break came in The Color Purple playing “Nettie,” Whoopi Goldberg's sister, in 1985.
Her friendship with Purple co-star Oprah Winfrey, and her sister's association with author Toni Morrison, resulted in Ms. Busia writing the first draft of the screenplay for Beloved, Ms. Winfrey's 1998 movie based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. She had read Ms. Morrison's manuscript before it was published in 1987. Beloved was her first screenplay.
“I read the book and called Oprah, raving about it,” she recalls. “I wrote the screenplay, then I sent it to Oprah anonymously.
“Oprah later called me to tell me she had read this script and liked it. Then I told her I had written it,” says Ms. Busia, who shares a screenwriting credit with Richard LaGravenese and Adam Brooks.
Scripting first novel
In recent months, Ms. Busia has been at her Los Angeles home with Hadar and her “two other babies” — adapting her novel, The Seasons of Beento Blackbird, into a film script, and writing a second novel. She doesn't expect to be flooded with acting jobs after time in the ER.
“That doesn't happen for black performers. Djimon Hounsou was the lead of a Steven Spielberg movie (Amistad), and this was the first thing he's done since then.”
She'd rather be writing, because she has more control over her fate — and her words. “When I write novels, it's what I want to say, for better or worse,” she says.
Only a few actresses have enormous clout, if your name is Oprah Winfrey or Susan Sarandon. The rest have only the power to say “yes” or “no.”
“Even with screenwriting, you're a victim, in a sense, because the director can change everything. You have no guarantee they'll use only your script.”
Her dream is to do it all — write, cast and direct her own story. “I'd love to tell a story the way I wanted to tell it. That would give me great satisfaction,” she says.
But her greatest happiness has nothing to do with writing or acting. It comes from her other role as mother.
“Success to me — at the risk of sounding corny — would be a very peaceful home life,” she says.
“Finding peace with a mate. Raising a happy, well-adjusted child. Having a sense of peace in your heart.”
John Kiesewetter is Enquirer TV/radio critic. His column appears Monday and Wednesday. Write: 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202.
John Kiesewetter is Enquirer TV/radio critic. Write him at 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, 45202.
