The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2021 - Issue 29

biteactorsprofile Joey Ansah Actor and Director’s Spotlight W hen your action-packed fight sequence with Matt Damon in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) makes the list of the best 21st-century fight scenes, and you’re nominated for an MTV award in the 'Best Fight' cat- egory, you know you are on the way to meet your destiny. Actor, director, martial artist, and writer Joey Ansah is more than a triple threat, with movies such as Street Fighter: As- sassin’s Fist (2014) regarded as one of the most remark- able video game adaptations of all times under his belt. I had the pleasure of talking to Joey in the classic 2021 Zoom chat setting, where we discussed the film business, faith and his journey into becoming the man he is today. From a very early age, the actor was drawn to perform- ing arts and cinema and immersed himself in everything available, from stage performances to martial arts. Joey, who is of dual heritage, with Ghanaian father Kofi Ansah and British mother Nicola Ansah, was born in London and spent the first decade of his life in England. His family moved to Accra in Ghana, where he attended the country’s top international school for several years before returning to Plymouth, England, at the age of 14. Whilst in Ghana, he explored dance and hip hop and Ko- rean martial art Taekwondo. He also found a passion for motorbikes and trained with friends and the sons of an Australian former motocross champion. As a teenager back in England, Joey trained obsessively in the rare martial art of Ninjutsu with military personnel in Plymouth. He said he felt like he had ‘struck gold’. The training taught him fundamental fighting skills and the “true nature of violence”. This experience encouraged him to dive into martial art legend and actor Bruce Lee’s books and philosophy. He also took an interest in high diving, which helped him understand spatial awareness and came in handy while learning acrobatics and tumbling. He also learned acrobatics by watching video recordings. “If you look at the process for long enough and study un- til you start to understand how it works, you can reverse engineer.” From that point, he applied this attitude to everything he did and developed Ninjutsu to a very high level. Towards the end of secondary school, Joey consid- Giedre Jackyte interviews British actor, director and martial artist Joey Ansah, best known for his roles and directorship in The Bourne Ultimatum, Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist and The Old Guard. Image credit: Theo Chalmers