Actors now know their worth – Nana Akua Addo
THE movie industry has generated attention over the last two weeks or more after the debacle involving actor Kofi Adjorlolo and the Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG).
A lot of industry players, especially the actors, have been speaking on the matter and Nana Akua Addo is the latest to share her views.
According to her, unlike previous years when actors would settle for anything, now they knew their worth.
“Now we have been awakened, we know better so we do not settle for just anything unlike when we started acting and accepted anything. In recent times, the new crop of actors have a price to their name because we have worked our way to get to where we are today.
“Today when producers are looking to cast, they want those who command respect and understand the game. We did not get here by chance, we worked our way up to get to this stage so we charge now, “ she told Graphic Showbiz recently.
Nana Akua, who is also a model continued that, “I went to further my education in acting at the New York Film Academy because I want to be better at my job and take it a notch higher which is basically looking outside the shores of Ghana. So for someone like me, I am done with doing free things.
“I recall recently, a producer called me for a role and I told him my management will get back to him. After speaking with my management, that was it. He didn’t come back although he said he would and I knew it had to with my rates.
“The next thing I heard was that someone had gone for that role which is fine by me but if we do not let the producers know our worth, then we will be getting this kind of treatment all the time. That is where we have now gotten to.”
Nana Akua said things were different in Nigeria. “When you go to Nigeria, it is different; when you are on set with them, it is like they are going for war, everyone is rehearsing and trying his or her best to fit into the character they are playing and it is so great. That is how it should be but it’s not the same here,” she disclosed.
She however made some suggestions to make the Ghanaian movie industry better.
“We need to be one, let us love one another, let us stop backbiting, only then can we improve. Our division is so bad that some actors have to ask who they are playing along with before they accept roles.
“If they do not like you, they will not act and if they have a kind of relationship with the producer or director, you are off the movie. How can we grow with that?”
Nana Akua also shared her experiences when she began acting. “When I started, it was not easy, I remember how the same faces were being used over and over again and that was because these actors had a relationship with the producers and it was affecting us, but now we know better.
Nana Akua said the actors needed to come together to fight the unfair system and make the industry better.
“We need to have one voice, when we stop feeling superior over one another, everything will be fine. People are now complaining because the tables have turned. We those that they looked down on are the people now being regarded,” she said.