Nollywood Star Femi Branch has stressed the need for the Nigerian film industry to prioritize talent over good looks when casting actors for movie roles.
In an effort to elevate the quality of performances, Branch also highlighted the significance of training for actors, particularly those new to the industry.
He emphasized that acting skills should take precedence over physical appearance to ensure authentic and compelling performances.
He said: “The growth indices in Nollywood have been ‘pandemic’. The influx of new talents (or lack of it) into the industry has always been on a steady rise. This is not entirely a bad thing as we have been blessed by a plethora of amazing talents, even in recent times”.
“However, my worry is in the area of professional conduct, which is where one differentiates between the trained and untrained. By training, I mean formal or informal. We should start giving recognition and opportunities to those who are talented and trained, rather than those who can only boast of good looks and loose morals.”
Asked about the challenges he faced while interpreting his role in the recently released movie titled, House of Ga’a, he said, “One of them was playing the role of a real life character. That is usually harder for an actor. The person lived and had a family, friends, acquaintances, and enemies”.
“There are many people who not only knew the person’s story, but they know how the person walked, talked, loved, hated, worked, played, and did basically every other thing”.
“In that case, an actor needs to do a lot more work in order to make their interpretation believable, especially for people who knew the person in question. So, Femi Branch had to ‘die’ for about two months for Basorun Ga’a to come back to life.”
