Audience can easily like the protagonist who everyone is cheering to reach his goal and dislike the antagonist who is doing everything to prevent the protagonist from reach his goal. There are other characters in movies that the audience do not approve of their actions but understand the reason behind their actions, and sometimes show empathy towards them. Such a character is called an Anti-Hero.
An Anti-Hero is a main character in a movie or a story who does not possess the traditional qualities and principles we attribute to a protagonist. Anti-Hero can also be considered as a character who doesn’t always do the right things in a movie, but the audience are drawn to him or her. This is normally judged on the Anti-Hero spectrum in the view of the audience. You don’t have to necessarily like Anti-Heroes, but you understand the reasons behind their actions.
The Billionaire’s Wife series has no clear cut character types, but a character that can be likened to an Anti-Hero is Adepa (Andriana Akua Amegbor). Adepa takes some decisions that the audience might not approve, but they understand the reason why she has to do that. Adepa is a 19-year old lady who got Married to an old Billionaire, Bill Gyimah (Kingsley Yamoah), as his third wife. I guess you are asking, why will a 19-year old lady marry an old billionaire? Well, your guess is as good as my.
A Backstory in episode 4 of season1, shows us how Adepa got into the business of going out with men to survive on the street. It is on one of these ‘hookups’ that she met Bill. The young innocent looking Adepa had to transform to become a fearful and authoritative wife in the series. Fafa and Maxwell orchestrated to get Adepa killed, but in the process they turned Adepa into the monster she has become. So why is Adepa likened to an Anti-Hero character?
The backstory tells the audience about Adepa’s struggles in life. And the failed plot to kill her makes the audience understand the reason why she had to make some decisions. As once said by John Truby, “if you show the audience why the character chooses to do wat they do… then the audience understand the cause of the action… without necessarily approving of the action itself.”
Now Adepa is brutal, she is out for blood; the audience do not approve of her actions, but they understand why she has to take those actions. This makes Adepa a near-perfect anti-hero. Perhaps, we will get to see Adepa as a perfect anti-hero in season 2 of The Billionaire’s Wife.
The Billionaire’s Wife is streaming on Showmax.
