Hollywood actor, Rockmond Dunbar of the hugely successful African-American drama series, ‘Soul Food’ fame, as well as ‘Prison Break’ and other movies, has expressed satisfaction and hope in the level of acting talents in Ghana. The actor made the observation when he recently visited Ghana as a judge on ‘The Spirited Actor: The Search for Africa’s Next Hollywood Star’ project. The project is a new reality TV show in Ghana and Nigeria to recruit acting talents for the fame and glitz in Hollywood.

Meanwhile, after a series of auditions at the National Theatre of Ghana that saw over 700 applicants turning out for their chance to act in Hollywood, the top 10 finalists from Ghana were unveiled to invited guests at a live taping for the TV series which will soon air on Viasat 1. They are Umar Krupp, Marie Humbert, Abigail Bili, Sermera Adams, Emma Ewurasi Antoh, Obenewaa Ofei-Nkansah, Joseph Otsiman (King Joe), Stephen Kojo Owusu, Jeff Kumordzie, and Joan Dumeh.

The 10 finalists were put through three rounds of task including improvisation of different roles and monologues. After each performance, the judges Rockmond Dunbar, Tracey Moore and Samad Davis gave their analyses and score. Hollywood acting coach, Tracey Moore hoped that the finalists and other acting hopefuls would take the comments and criticisms from the judges seriously, digest it and apply it in their quest to rise to the top in acting.

The performance show would be aired on Viasat 1 and the public would vote for their favourites during a two-week period after which the top 5 would be selected to join the top 5 from Nigeria in New York for the commencement of the main reality TV show. The ultimate winner will win an acting contract and star in a Hollywood movie production alongside Morris Chestnut. Rockmond Dunbar commented, “There is so much talent out there in Ghana. There are so many of them that can exude their talent; raise their stars and go to Hollywood and be successful. So to pick and choose only ten is kind of unfair and that was the challenge for me as a judge. I think we could have raised it to about 20. I also wish we had the resources to bring more than just five people to the US”.