At age 38 and with 19 years of acting behind her, award-winning
actress, Pascaline Edwards, has found the gym a necessary requirement
for her acting career.

Pascaline has become a virtual addict to the Geodan’s Gym in Tema which she incidentally owns and runs with her husband, Dan Budu.

Indeed, the religious adherence to her gym schedule has been one of her cherished aspects of life away from acting as well as managing her production, advertising and training of actors outfit called Film Techniques Media.

“Working out is one of the ways to stay young and I have found it a part of my life. I just enjoy my time in the gym” she said in an interview with Graphic Showbiz.

For her, the gym has brought relief from the stress of acting and encounters with a society that has struggled to cope with the roles actors play in movies.

In spite of what she called provocative attitude by some members of the public whose perception, in her mind, are jaundiced against particularly women in the acting fraternity, she insisted that her passion for the job had known no bounds.

“I enjoy my profession as an actor and I have not had any regrets about the job. I have lost my privacy because of acting, but I understand the situation perfectly. In fact, even when things are not well with you, the public expects to see you smiling and so I adjust,” she said.

Touching on the movie industry, Pascaline said “there is always more room for improvement. The Ghanaian movie industry has improved tremendously over the years, but we still have room to grow.

“Many of our actors and actresses are generally very good and experienced and can easily adjust to various roles, no matter how challenging the task is. But we will always find a few who lack the passion and basic skills to capture the essence of a role.

“I hate to make comparisons because we all have areas of strengths and areas of weaknesses, but I think we need to tackle a few areas to refine the scene,” Pascaline said.

The one-time Ghana’s Best Actress said there is the need for specialists in costuming and hair styling to enhance the gains being made by the local movie industry. “Some of the costumes are exaggerated and at times they just clothe us or we have to find what appears good to us to wear,” she said.

Despite the challenges of running three lives as an actress, a mother and wife and manager of her two businesses, she insisted that her best was yet to be seen.

“It has not been easy shuttling from one activity to the other on daily basis, but I succeed because I manage my time very well. I hate to be rushed into programmes that have not been previously arranged because I don’t like to disappoint people,” she said.

In all these, she had found her husband to be very supportive. From that support, and what she called God’s guidance, she derives her inspiration and strength for every task she has accomplished.

By Michael Quaye