Lydia Forson was born in Mankessim, Ghana. She migrated to the United States in 1990, at the age of 6, when her father pursued his doctoral degree. While living in the United States Lydia Forson attended Wilmore Elementary school in Kentucky. Three years later, when Lydia was nine (9) years old her family moved back to Ghana. She continued her formative education at Akosombo International School.

Lydia also attended St. Louis Secondary School in Kumasi where she completed her senior secondary school. After secondary school Lydia continued her academic pursuits by attending University Of Ghana where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Information Studies.

For years she flirted with the idea of entering the entertainment industry throughout her life; however it was in her final year at college that she was daring enough to take up acting as a career.

Career

Lydia Forson has been acting on screen for five years, dating back to cameo roles in Hotel St. James (2005), Run Baby Run(2006), Different Shades of Blue (2007) and a stint in the reality show ‘The Next Movie Star’ in Nigeria (2007)

For months after the show, ‘The Next Movie Star’ she still found herself struggling to get the recognition she needed to jump start her career. As an actress who believes in quality scripts, Lydia was very selective and not willing to compromise on quality. This selectiveness gave her very few opportunities to advance her acting career.

Shirley Frimpong Manso, CEO of Sparrow Productions, who had previously worked with Lydia in the 2006 television series “Different Shades of Blue” called Lydia in for a reading for her 2008 movie SCORNED. This was the opportunity for which Lydia had been waiting. She got the lead role of Dea Thompson in the highly accredited film Scorned. This starring role led to her first African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) nomination as the Best Upcoming Female Actress and Joy Fm’s Night with the Stars Best Actress 2009.

The next critically acclaimed film in which Lydia proved her versatility and validated her status as a serious actress

was in the 2009 movie “The Perfect Picture”. Critics have called “The Perfect Picture” a masterpiece and Lydia’s dynamic performance solidified her a place in the Ghana movie industry.

Lydia’s passion for her work is demonstrated in the extent to which she embodies each character she plays in her movies. In her latest movie “A Sting In A Tale” Lydia once again demonstrated her commitment to her craft as she matched her talents with some of the best and brightest actors in the Ghanaian movie industry. Lydia Forson is dynamic in any role she plays whether as the lead actress or in a supporting role.

Filmography

2005 Hotel St. James Abena Cameo roles

2006 Run Baby Run Becky Supporting Role. Won four

2007 Different Shades of Blue

2007 The Next Movie Star Reality Show Came In third runner up

2008 Scorned Dea Lead Role

2009 The Perfect Picture Dede Supporting Role

2009 A Sting in a Tale Frema Lead Role

Activism

Since her secondary school days Lydia has been an advocate for behavioural change among Africans. She strongly believes that our ideology has been of great influence on the state of affairs on the African continent.

She is working on establishing the FREE2BME Foundation; a mentorship programme to encourage thinking unconventional and innovative thinking among the youths and to inculcate in them the will to be anything but ordinary.

Personal life

In her final year in the University Lydia was almost dismissed because she went to take part in a movie competition. In a conservative country that was still adapting to the Industry, it was unheard of for anyone to choose acting as a full time career.

Pressures from school, society, and an Industry biased to size; coupled with the separation of her parents and the death of her grandmother saw her struggling to maintain her sanity amidst all that was happening around her.

Determined to prove a point she stood her ground and was later admitted back into the university. It was immediately after she got her break through role which ushered her into Ghana’s movie industry.

Lydia states that her inspiration comes from her mother, “she has been through more than any woman should have to go through, but still manages to smile and be strong for her children. She and my brothers are what I call my ROCK ‘.

It is with the same zeal that she approaches life. Lydia believes that the day we stop dreaming we end our existence. She lives by Tupac Shakur’s quote, “when my heart can beat no more I hope that I die for a principle or a belief that I had lived for”.

The Future

She believes in strong characters and stories that not only entertain but also educate. “As an actress our roles are most often determined by the offers at hand,” she said, “It’s rare for us get the chance to be characters that we truly are passionate about . So I eventually hope to write and produce stories I believe in.”

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