When Amadou Ly from Senegal was abandoned by his mother at the tender
age of 14 in New York City, life could not be more far removed from his
current status as rising Hollywood Star. Arriving on the foreign shores
of the States at just 13 in quest of a better life and education, a
series of stressing encounters awaited our young hero. When hard times
struck the pair, out of financial necessity and not from malicious
intent, Amadou`s mother was forced to leave her son all alone in this
foreign land. Kicked out onto the Harlem streets by a supposed friend,
he resorted to selling anything he could muster, such as flyers and DVDs
to make ends meet. Feeling somewhat of a misfit in this rigid
American culture, Amadou had to swiftly learn to assimilate with his
peers or face further ostracization and ridicule. So embracing the art
of robotic dancing, Amadou soon discovered he had a great talent that
bestowed much positive attention upon him. This was vital for just 2
years later at 16; he was embroiled in a highly publicised immigration
battle. But because he had lead his team to victory at the New Year
Regional Championships, many high profile celebrities and politicians
supported him in his plea against deportation and he was granted a visa.
During these trying and emotionally demanding times Amadou, whilst
living in a two roomed flat with 18 other immigrants sought solace from
music and positive role models such as Oprah Winfrey and Will Young.
The movie Dream Girls (2006) by Bill Condon, with the actress Jennifer
Hudson was of particular inspiration for him, and gave him strength to
survive and force him forward.
Acting was always in his blood, and Hudson was definitely a big
influence for him, but it was engineering that Amadou studied and was
training for. But held back at interviews by suffering from the social
handicap of severe shyness, a friend suggested that he take up acting
classes to help him surmount this. And that was it, catching the highly
contagious acting bug; the fate and direction of Amadou was now sealed.
“ I was so proud to be able to walk with my mother at the premiere of
Twighlight”. He so appreciatively tells me. This is testimony to his
own incredible positive energy that he is able to move forward from the
past and elevate himself into successful future, that he doesn’t
harbour grudges. Walking down the red carpet he was mesmerised by the
fans positive reception to his newly written in character of Henri into
the latest blockbuster Twighlight Breaking Dawn II. There is a big
sense of symmetry for Amadou, that this Twighlight movie was made by
Bill Condon, but coincidently it was Condon`s film Dream Girls 2006 that
so inspired and motivated him in the first place.Rapid success so seems destined on the cards for Amadou since this
was merely only his second audition in 7 months and landed a role in a
major Hollywood blockbuster. He was described by Spectrum as “an actor
to look out for” and was bestowed with much praise and rave reviews for
his portrayal in his first Hollywood theatre production of ‘Sex,
Relationships, and Sometimes Love’.
”This is a dream come true!” Amadou tells me. But dreams become
manifest when you believe in yourself and make them happen. One thing
is apparent to me when talking to him, that despite such humble and
painful origins, he was able to transcend his obstacles. With his
inordinate positive aura and self -belief that life can be bettered that
dreams really do come true. He doesn’t dwell in a negative and
destructive past, but learns from such events and uses this to propel
him into a prosperous future.
Often the position of celebrity is misconstrued with that of self
obsessed, fame hungry narcissism, but Amadou is definitely the
antithesis of this, and I feel will always remain so. He keeps himself
in the realms of reality by still doing charity work for the homeless
and keeps very much to his roots by still involving himself in robotic
dancing. He even extraordinarily visits lonely immigrants who are
waiting for deportation, not knowing their fate, so to make them feel so
isolated and alone. This is definitely payment back to all the people
who supported him for his immigration fight to remain in the states and
for his now present success.
Being of natural French speaking, although he possesses an American
accent as thick as blueberry pie, definitely helped differentiate him
from his fellow rivals for the part of Henri in Twilight. It was
almost as it had been written for him. But it wasn’t luck; it wasn’t
being in the right place at the right time. No, his success was self
-generated by dreams and belief. A strong self believe that one day he
would accomplish this, almost like cosmic ordering. Haven’t you noticed
that bad things consistently keep happening to the same people, that
there appears to be a reoccurring trait of tragedy? This can often be
attributed to attitude and self-doubt and negativity. If you project a
negative energy then negativity will be bestowed upon you. Look at
Amadou for example; despite terrible things happening in his formative
years, he kept an optimistic approach and outlook. Now as reward for
his perseverance and non-defeatist approach, things, which appear only
what dreams, are made of, almost miraculously materialised in
reality. But it isn’t a miracle; it isn’t a dream, its through
self-belief. And from this self-belief, others believed in him. Within
an inordinately short amount of time he has been catapulted up into the
big time, but his feet are still firmly on the ground. This grounding
will keep in on his fast track journey to success. “I live for the
now”, he says and precisely how he should do. “I am always willing to
learn,” he continues to tell me, by reading all sorts of
self-development books from The Alchemist to the Power of Now. If there
is something he doesn’t feel he is educated highly enough in, he will
address that and teach and expand himself. In the highly unlikely
event his career wavers and he becomes yesteryear’s news, he will still
retain that massive sense of achievement, and no regret. But I feel,
and many other critics to do, that his star is in ascendance, and being
custodian of such a cosmic sense then the galaxy is his only limit.
Darren Cheers of The Huffington Post
Click HERE to read article.
