The creator of the popular series "Ma famille", Akissi Delta is a well-known actress in the world of African cinema today. If this artist has been able to establish a reputation today, it must be said that she hasn't always had it easy. She got off to a rocky start. Here's a portrait of Loukou Akissi Delphine, known as Akissi Delta.
Born in 1960 in Dimbokro, in the central-eastern part of Côte d'Ivoire, Loukou Akissi Delphine could never have imagined that she would have such a successful career in the cinema. Many people find it hard to believe, but Akissi Delta has never set foot in a classroom. Having never been to school, one of her aunts took her in, in the capital Abidjan. This tutor helped him practice the language of Molière.
"My aunt taught me to speak, read and write French. Just as she taught me respect for others," she confides.
Despite this linguistic handicap, young Akissi rubs shoulders with other people to continue learning to speak French. One morning in 1977, she was discovered by Léonard Groguhet, actor, and founder of the "Comment ça va" troupe. He liked the girl's go-getter personality.
"I owe him everything," she says. It was here that the shy, frail Akissi was shaped by her master. Thanks to her charm, she burst onto the screen in a TV series bearing the same name as the troupe, "Comment ça va?", a satire of Ivorian society.
Following a series of castings, the "daughter of Dimbokro", as she is affectionately called by her acting friends, went on to work for some of the most prestigious directors in the country. Henri Duparc, the Franco-Ivorian director behind "Rue Princesse", even wrote a role tailor-made for her. Directors often call on her talent.
In 1994, the TV show "Comment ça va", which had made her a star, was interrupted. It was then that she took the initiative of putting together a troupe of former "Comment ça va? cast members. The result was "Qui fait ça?", another satirical series. A troupe from which she was fired on January 10, 2000.
But Akissi is a fighter. She pursues her path despite the obstacles that stand in her way. Her training as an actress was acquired by rubbing shoulders with the great names of Ivorian theater, who often worked with her. But she points out that she was never trained in acting or theatrical art.
One of her close friends says: "She's a great artist and comedienne. I know she didn't go to school, but she can act better than those who have diplomas and have worked hard on the stage. For me, Akissi Delta is a dazzling star.
"Her flaw is her kindness," admits Michel Gohou, another famous actor who stars in the TV movie "Ma Famille".
"She's too quick to trust people and that plays bad tricks on her," adds another actress in "Ma Famille": a film in which Akissi plays the role of a docile, timorous housewife, constantly cheated on by her husband.
A submissive role that doesn't appeal to all viewers. "I don't like the role Delta plays in this film. Her husband cheats on her and she doesn't say anything. She's too docile," complains a viewer who forgets that this is fiction.
On the garden side, Akissi is not yet settled: "I'm not married, and I don't have any children. I'm looking for the ideal man who I see as a reader and therefore cerebral and thoughtful. I'd also like to have children, and I'd like to welcome them in a beautiful house by the water, with a superb staircase like in Brazilian films", the Ivorian actress dreams aloud, with her enchanting smile.
Acting is not her only passion. There's also fashion design. Akissi Delta makes her own clothes that make women green with envy. In fact, she has been awarded the prize for the most elegant woman in Ivorian showbiz.