Grace Nortey Calls For Good Movie Directors

POPULAR ACTRESS Grace Nortey has expressed concern about how some players in the movie industry are gradually undermining the noble profession. According to her, acting in Ghana was no longer as challenging as it used to be in her days. This, she noted, was due to the predominance of poor and unethical film directors in the industry. “Acting is a bit easier now than when we were acting in those days. Because when we were acting, we had good directors who would be watching the way we move our fingers, eyes and lips. But this time it is not like that. People actually do whatever they like. I blame the directors; we don’t have good directors nowadays,” she said in an interview with BEATWAVES. She disclosed that former production managers had metamorphosed into directors, and asked that chief players in the industry tried to find a lasting solution to this anomaly before it further dragged the dignified profession into the sludge. She continued that actors and actresses must also endeavor to come under one umbrella and foster unity among themselves, adding that such a move would help contribute to a more organized industry. The retired Ghana Education Service civil servant, who had been acting for the past 25 years, debunked the rumours that she was planning to retire. “I am not really saying goodbye to acting. You know I am old now; I cannot play certain roles. We have to leave such roles to the younger ones,” Nortey said. Nortey added that her current repertoire consisted mostly of roles such as grandmother, mother, auntie and others that would suit her age. She recalled some of her role names such as “Mame Jata” and “Oba Gengen,” which literally means ‘hard woman’. She revealed that she detested playing witch roles, because the public often saw it as though it were real. She encouraged filmmakers to tone down the theme of witchcraft in Ghanaian movies.