The Beam: It’s The Shaker!!!

Majid Michel “Shaker” was born 22 September 1980.  A typical example of creativity. When comparing him to his colleagues only but a few can be placed on the same scale of the skills the Ghanaian born actor possesses.  He received nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role for 4 years on a stretch at the Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014, in which he eventually won the award in 2012 after three previous consecutive nominations.

Michel was born in Cantonments, a suburb of the Ghanaian capital Accra. He is the son of a Lebanese father and a Ghanaian mother, and he grew up in Accra with his nine siblings. In secondary school, Michel was actively involved in theater and was a member of the school’s Drama Club. As a member of the drama club, he received a Best Actor Award in one of their performances on Emancipation Day in Cape Coast, Ghana.

PS- He did not wake up to winning major awards. It was a growth process.

Michel entered professional acting by auditioning for a modelling agency. He got the nickname “Shaker” while starring on the set of a television series “Things We Do for Love”. The TV series became a success and propelled him into the mainstream. On the strength of his performance in the series, he was cast in his first movie, Divine Love, as the male lead, alongside Jackie Aygemang as the female lead, with Van Vicker in a supporting role. Turning him into a household name across Ghana. In 2008 Michel starred as the lead role in the film Agony of the Christ, which received seven nominations at the Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2009.

Majid is one of the Ghanaian actors who got into the film industry during the period in which Frank Rajah Arase signed a contract with Ghana's Abdul Salam Mumuni of Venus Films. The contract basically involved introducing Ghanaian actors into the mainstream Nollywood film industry and making them have a star power comparable to Nigerian actors. Michel made his Nigerian Nollywood debut in the 2009 romantic drama, Emerald, playing a leading role alongside Genevieve Nnaji. While Majid's performance was commended, along with his strong on-screen chemistry with Nnaji, the film received largely mixed to negative reviews. However, the 2009 film Silent Scandals brought Majid into prominence in Nigeria. Nollywood Forever Comments: "His [Michel's] intensity is concentrated in his eyes and he uses it well so it is understandable that he always gets roles in which love and women and the seduction of them play a large role". Same year, another film featuring Michel, Guilty Pleasures was released; Guilty Pleasures upon release, was met with generally positive reviews, with praise given to Michel's performance.

Majid was quite outspoken in the media when he started off his career in Nigeria; He confessed in an interview that the first time he met Genevieve, "everything stood still"; he was so star struck that he offered to carry her bag and to be her personal assistant. *lol* In another interview, he stated that Genevieve Nnaji is the best kisser in the film industry.*Hmmm* He also stated in an interview that Genevieve taught him "how to act" and also implied in another interview that Ghana has no film industry. All of these, along with the explicit roles he played in films made him have controversies always trailing him during his early days. In late 2010, the talent actor was obviously intimidating some of his Nigerian colleagues and it was reported that the actor took a break from Nigeria after receiving death threats supposedly from his Nigerian colleagues, who thinks that he is getting too many jobs. During this time, he went back to act in Ghana, where he featured in films such as 4 Play (2010) and its sequel 4 Play Reloaded (2011).

In 2012, he starred in the War film Somewhere in Africa, playing a tyrant. Though the film didn't do well critically, Michel's role delivery got him wide acclaim, and he won an Africa Movie Academy Award for the first time. 

PS- Even In a bad movie, talent cannot be hidden.

This launched his career once again in Nigeria where he has since established himself as a star and has been featured in mainstream Nigerian films. In 2014, he co-starred in the all-time blockbuster 30 Days in Atlanta for which he got listed by Nigerian Cinema Exhibition Coalition as one of the highest box office grosser of 2014. Other 2014 films featuring Michel include: Forgetting June, which was met with generally negative reviews. He however featured in Knocking on Heaven's Door and Being Mrs Elliot, both of which had decent performance, commercially and critically.

Some of the movies the Star actor has featured in include; Chelsea, Agony of Christ, Somewhere in Africa, Shakira, The Game, 4 Play, Silent Scandals, Guilty Pleasure, The Beast, Royal Madness, Knocking on Heaven's Door, Being Mrs Elliot, 30 Days in Atlanta, Road to Yesterday… a very long list.

Majid is a born again Christian. On October 4 2016, he was a guest minister at a local church where he shared the word and performed deliverance on people. Speaking to Joy F.M in Ghana, Majid described his new spiritual life as "genuine and inspired from his understanding from the Bible".On April 1, 2017, he explained that his refined relationship with God has cost him some of his friends. He went further to state that his present friends are determined solely through vision from God. In a 2017 sermon celebrating Easter, Majid summarized the whole essence of the cruxification of Christ as being to "overthrow racism, hate, envy, jealousy, pride, war and demonic powers with a simple filled-grace life".

For all these reasons, is no wonder we admire "Shaker"! Every upcoming actor can learn from his success story.

Till next time on The Beam! *Ciao!