In 2015, Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye was featured as “Strika” in the movie Beast of Nations alongside Idris Elba and Abraham Attah. Three years later, he is on the streets of Ghana, begging to earn a living.
The young actor was seen begging by a fan who recognized him and was taken to a local tv station for an interview. Speaking on GHOne TV, Quaye narrated his experience after the acclaimed film.
According to him, he was supposed to be paid $30,000 for the role but the money was taken custody of by a handler who promised to pay the money once he turned 18. Sadly, the said person has not made good on that promise.
The movie was a Netflix adaptation of a book of the same title by Uzodinma Iweala and cost six million dollars to produce. Idris Elba won a SAG Awards for his role and was nominated for Golden Globe.
On the contrary, Abraham Attah who played the main character Agu has since made inroads into a Hollywood career. Having relocated to the United States, he got a role in the Marvel film Spiderman: Homecoming and is billed to feature in the forthcoming The Modern Ocean.
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Quaye’s life couldn’t be any different as he continues to scrape by in his home country. He revealed that he was also featured in a Ghanaian movie Jungo Justice but suffered the same fate- the producers told him his fee was used to buy clothes and shoes for him but he never got any actual money.