Background
Ansah was born in London, England, of mixed ethnicity, the second son of celebrated Ghanaian fashion designer Kofi Ansah and his Devon-born wife Nicola. At 15 he returned to England, settling with his mother and young sister in Plymouth.
Ansah was born in London, England, of mixed ethnicity, the second son of celebrated Ghanaian fashion designer Kofi Ansah and his Devon-born wife Nicola. At 15 he returned to England, settling with his mother and young sister in Plymouth.
While in Ghana, he studied the martial art of Tae Kwon Do for four years and took up hip-hop dance and motorbike racing.
Joey Ansah lived in London for the first 10 years of his life before emigrating with his family to Ghana. While studying for his GCSEs and A-levels at Devonport High School for Boys, he began training in the martial art of Ninpo Taijutsu. This would include a period of training with Bujinkan Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi.
Later, while studying for his degree in Human Biology at Oxford Brookes University, he began training in the Brazilian martial art of Capoeira.
He also worked as a model and extra at this time. His first important role as an actor was in the United Kingdom indie film Love Struck (2005).
Notable appearances on British television followed in episodes of British Broadcasting Corporation productions Spooks (2005) and Timewatch (2006). Ansah went on to play a minor role as one of the Shadow Warriors in Batman Begins (2005).
However, his most noteworthy role to date came in 2007, when he appeared in The Bourne Ultimatum as Desh Bouksani, an assassin tracking down Jason Bourne.
Ansah"s performance was notable for an extended set-piece fight scene between himself and Matt Damon, regarded by one reviewer as one of the best ever filmed, in which Ansah performed all of his own stunts. In 2008 he was nominated for an Music Television Film Award in the "Best Fight" category. Ansah has also acted in British independent martial arts films, such as Left for Dead and Underground.
Ansah choreographed, co-wrote and directed the short film: Legacy.
A self-proclaimed fan of the video game series, Ansah wanted the short to be the most accurate depiction of the series, different from the two theatrically released films. He and collaborator Christian Howard whom he worked with on SFL, worked on the live-action series: Assassin"s Fist and they are developing a second season titled: World Warrior and: Resurrection.
His artistic family includes:
Kofi Ansah (father) – fashion designer
Kwaw Ansah (uncle) – award-winning film director
Tumi Ebow Ansah (uncle) – actor, composer, ethnomusicologist and researcher
Ryan Ansah (brother) – musician
Tanoa Ansah – (sister) Chief Executive Officer of Dæ.WEAR.