Actor turned politician John Dumelo
Award-winning American-based Ghanaian movie producer Leila Jewel Djansi has shared a harrowing tale of how actor turned politician John Dumelo was almost stabbed on a movie set.
In a post on her Facebook wall on March 2, 2025, the experienced filmmaker launched a scathing critique of the Ghanaian film industry, describing it as a “mirthless joke.”
Djansi highlighted the unprofessionalism she witnessed among crew members in the industry including how negligence almost led to the stabbing of Dumelo.
“Should I talk about the production designer who passed a real knife to an actor for a stabbing scene? My God. If it wasn’t for divine intervention, Vanessa Williams would have stabbed John Dumelo with a real knife that day. How is this not a joke?” she posted.
Although the name of the project was not mentioned, John Dumelo starred alongside Hollywood star Vanessa Williams in the 2018 TV series “40 & single” which aired on StarTimes Adepa TV.
Dumelo played the character Charles who was the fiancé to Vanessa Williams’ character; Bertha Brown.
Djansi also recounted several other shocking experiences she encountered while working in Ghana.
“Try an AD telling you he’s going to sleep for a few minutes in the middle of a shoot. Try a crew demanding you stop filming, bring a TV so they can watch football, and then return to set after the match.
“Look for what Cary Fukunaga said about working in Ghana. Try wardrobe telling an actor they don’t have an outfit for them because their role is not big enough,” she added
She compared these incidents with her experiences in other countries, where she witnessed a high level of professionalism and attention to detail.
“Compare that to my production in the Dominican Republic, where the props guy showed me eight different watches, properly arranged, for me to choose JUST ONE, for the scene. Eight options. I cried tears of joy,” Djansi wrote.
The filmmaker urged industry players to ‘stop defending mediocrity’ and instead embrace constructive criticism so they can grow.
ID/KA
Meanwhile, watch this Ghana Month special edition of People and Places as we hear the story of how the head of Kwame Nkrumah’s bronze statue was returned after 43 years, below:
