Talent without education is useless - George Quaye

In relation to whether or not actors need formal education aside their talents in the movie industry, actor, TV host, director, producer and writer, George Nii Armah Quaye, says talent without refinement is of no use in the creative industry.

A story on myjoyonline.com has it that movie director, Kofi Asamoah, had said that one does not need to undergo training to become an actor but in an interview with Sammy Flex on the AM Pluzz show, Kofi Asamoah said he didn’t say that.

“When I saw the story, I smiled because that was not what I really meant. All I said was that, one does not need to sit in the classroom before they can become an actor and you do not need to have a talent. The acting talent is not given through the classroom or professional or formal education.

Acting is a creative act and creativity is not taught, it is inbuilt. Training only refines talent to make it a better resource and it is not just about having a degree, you need talent and willingness to make it a skill. I train all my casts and they again learn on the job. The best and most influential training anyone could ever have is to learn on the job,” he said.

As reported on FlexGH.com, George made his arguments on the matter with emphasis on the necessity of education in the creative sector of the country.

“The bottom line is that this country over the years has provided a lot of mediocrity in the sense that we find excuses to everything we are unable to do. I was quiet elated when Kofi explained himself better by saying he didn’t mean one does not need school per say. Yes he is right. First and foremost what you actually need is talent.

Most of us might have walked past raw gold in our lifetime without knowing it was gold because it needed refinements to be able to be appreciated.

Everything needs to go through a little refining process in this world but a lot of people in the creative industry think all it takes is talent.

Talent is not enough and I quote; talent is useless if it hasn’t been polished or refined. Some international acts are graduates from film and theatre schools so they are well vested in their respective fields,” he said.

He went on to say that when people come to him and say they want to become industry persons, the first thing he tells them is to go get proper and adequate training first.

Education needs to be valued in order to upgrade and take us to the next level in all our endeavors or else professionalism will be lost in our system. Until the industry understands that education is something we cannot do away with, we will continue to wallow in mediocrity,” he added.

George Quaye, who is well known for his role as ‘Aboagye’ in the Taxi Driver comedy series some years back, is a graduate of the School of Performing Arts.

Aside acting, he works at Charter House as the senior Events Producer/Director and Head of Media, Brands and Communication and hosts The Pundits show on GH One as well.