The Nollywood veteran’s remarks on a Ghanaian film set have reopened an old argument about pay, experience and bargaining power in cross-border productions.
Veteran Nigerian actor Kanayo O. Kanayo has told Ghanaian actors to stop insisting on the same fees as Nigerian stars who are flown in for local film productions, saying each performer should negotiate based on their own value.
The actor, widely known by the initials KOK, made the remarks while speaking to Ghanaian journalists on the set of a new film project he is currently working on, Adom Online reports.
What he said
Kanayo said he has come across cases where Ghanaian actors on the same production ask how much the visiting Nigerian cast members are being paid, then demand a matching figure for their own roles.
He argued that this approach ignores the reality of career history and standing in the industry.
"There is hierarchy even in heaven. In the movie industry, there is hierarchy," he said.
He described himself as one of the founding figures of Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry, and said it does not follow that a younger Ghanaian actor should earn what he earns simply because they share screen time.
His advice to Ghanaian performers was to settle their own terms and leave other people's contracts alone. "Negotiate what you want to be paid. Don't equate yourself with me," he said, adding that what Nigerian actors are paid is not their business.
Kanayo said the matter was not hypothetical. He indicated a similar disagreement had come up on the Ghanaian production he is presently shooting. He said he considered naming the actors involved but was advised not to, and held back.
Why it matters
Co-productions between Ghanaian and Nigerian filmmakers have become common, with Nollywood names regularly cast in Ghanaian films to widen their appeal across West Africa and in the diaspora. Those castings bring audiences, but they also bring fee gaps that are rarely discussed openly.
Kanayo's position is that the gap reflects experience and market pull rather than nationality. The counter-view, which his comments have stirred up again, is that actors doing comparable work on the same set should not be valued so differently.
For Ghanaians in the United States and elsewhere who follow Ghanaian and Nigerian films on streaming platforms, the argument speaks to something bigger: who gets paid what when two film industries work on the same project, and whether Ghanaian talent has the bargaining strength to set its own price.
The source report did not include any response from Ghanaian actors, industry groups or producers to Kanayo's remarks.
What happens next
No formal complaint or industry response has been reported so far. Kanayo is still working on the Ghanaian production where he said the disagreement arose.
