Funsho Adeolu is not one to be toyed with, especially concerning professionalism.
Nigerian Entertainment Today met with the
45-year-old actor at a movie location in Ikorodu, and he spoke candidly
on why he has been absent from English movies, and why Yoruba movies and
actors are not in the spotlight like their English counterparts.
Let us start with your assessment of the Nigerian movie industry. There
has been a lot of improvement. At the moment, we don’t have a control
agency, [which] is why we see some very funny things on TV, but when I
started acting, the kind of cameras we used and technical know how we
had was nothing near what we have now. We use very high-tech cameras
now, the latest cameras they use overseas. We are progressing.
Is the industry lucrative? It is
very lucrative, [and] that is why everybody is coming in. The fact that
it is lucrative is the reason there are so many people in the industry,
and that has resulted in the lack of control in the movie world. These
people wouldn't have come in if there was no
money.
Apart from lack of control, what other challenges do you think Nigerian actors face today? Personally,
I don’t see challenges in my job as anything difficult. Instead, I try
to always enjoy them. I see it as a work hazard, and such things are
obtainable in every other profession. Personally, I like challenges,
[they have] this way of letting me know that I am working and makes me
learn more, work properly and be more prayerful.
You once worked in the corporate world as a journalist. How easy was it to convince your family of your decision to act? My
decision to dump advertising and journalism for acting was like an
adventure. I came from a broken home but it did not affect me. My
parents were in the teaching field and wanted me to be what they could
not, but they did not force me. I actually wanted to be a lawyer, I
wrote JAMB four times but did not make the cut-off for Ife, (Obafemi
Awolowo University).
I started acting when I was in school, as a hobby. After I finished, I
decided to go for acting professionally. It wasn’t hard convincing my
parents, because at that time, I was already staying alone. They tried
to meddle at some point, though, because they felt I was not as big as
they expected, but I asked that I be left alone. What I have always
wanted to do is not to look for money, but to be satisfied. I wanted to
be content, successful, and to enjoy myself, and acting for me at that
time was enjoyment, but now it is strictly
business.
Are you successful and contented now? If
I was not, you wouldn’t look for me. I have become a household name.
There is nowhere in the world you will go to that somebody will not know
me, [and] that’s the primary stage of what I want to achieve in this
industry. I just want people to know me, and for good jobs too. My
knowledge of advertising and brand management also has helped me carve a
niche for myself and it has paid off. A lot of people respect me and
can’t even explain why.
You started out with soap operas but have not done those lately. Why is that? After
starring in Palace, then Super Story and later Family Ties, it will be
difficult for me just to do anything lesser. If good work comes, I’ll be
there. When the era of soap operas started, there weren’t many on the
TV, but now we have so many soaps on TV, appearing in all of them would
only make me lose my worth.
Why have you been absent in English movies these days? When
I started out, I always had an eye for professionalism and respect for
the profession. I have always had an eye for perfection in everything I
do. I like to be in the midst of people that are professionals. Even at
that time, when I was in English [movies], I never worked with anybody
apart from Tunji Bamishigbin, Jimi Odumosu, Tade Ogidan, and the likes.
During that period, I got offers from others but I always declined.
Why? Because they were not
professionals. Theirs (Igbo filmmakers) is usually a case of somebody
who started as a production assistant and in a year, claims to be a
director. I had a standard and used to refuse their offers, but when it
got to a point, all the people I mentioned (Tunji Bamishigbin, Jimi
Odumosu and Tade Ogidan) left movies for soaps, and as an actor by
profession, I had to eat. Antar Laniyan was the one that advised me to
try Yoruba movies.
What are the differences between Igbo filmmakers and their Yoruba counterparts? There
is no big money in Yoruba movies, but I have realized that they are
after knowledge, even though they are not as [well] read as the English
people. I saw it as a place I could learn. Usually, the process starts
on apprenticeship level, and after five years of training, [a person]
tries his hands on things.
There is also a type of oneness in the Yoruba movie sector. The Yoruba
setting has a system that is informal, but well-coordinated and
educational for me, [and ]that makes me more comfortable and at home,
but when professionals from the Igbo sector call me, I go, especially
when I see that it is my kind of job. Apart from that, I don’t do any
English movie, because what they do now is that the marketer is the
producer and the director, and they haven’t learned anything about
production. I am a director too, and I always want to learn when I get
on every set.
Isn't it the same in the Yoruba sector? In
their case, (Igbo movie makers), often times, their marketer is [also
the producer and director]. I’m not saying it is professional, but it
can be done, and well, too. Mel Gibson is a director, producer, actor
and that is what we are looking at, but that does not mean everyone
should do that. The Yoruba genre is as guilty. They feel it is a normal
process for an actor to grow to become a producer and director, but it
is not so. There are producers, actors and directors, but in trying to
manage money and be everything so that people can reckon with them,
that’s why they are doing it now so it’s not a professional thing.
How true is it that Yoruba movies are produced in a few days, and what effect does that have on the sector? That
is not peculiar to Yoruba movies alone, but to answer your question,
yes. That is the way we have been doing it, a lot of people (producers)
lie about it, but that is how it is. It is left for actors to maintain a
standard and try not to do everything. It used to be worse, there was a
time movies were shot in four or five days, but right now it is
improving, and people are getting things right. Some even go abroad to
learn about the technicalities involved (in filmmaking). I must say here
that it was not this bad at the beginning, but some nonentities came in
and made a mess of the system. I remember those days when I use to act
on TV, majorly on NTA.
Then, there was no rush about anything. The planning stage used to take
more time than production itself, but when one finds oneself in this
type of situation where it is your profession, if you run away from it,
you will come back begging for it; one must stay and try to change it,
which is what is am doing now.
Is it true that there is a disparity between Yoruba and English speaking actors and why is this so? Maybe
because of the standards these days for Yoruba actors, naturally, there
is bound to be a small complex, and as it is over there, if you do not
showcase yourself, nobody will see or think you can do anything. Some
people who saw me on Family Ties were surprised, forgetting I was a
major character in Wale Adenuga’s Super Story. If a Yoruba actor
doesn’t try to show him or herself in any English speaking movie or
soap, nobody will know they can speak English, but we have more read
people in the Yoruba movie industry more than English.
Why is there more international acceptance and spotlight on English movies compared to with Yoruba films? The
unfortunate thing is that in the Yoruba actors’ world, they are
self-confined. We are satisfied with ourselves, but talking about
travelling, Yoruba actors and producers travel more often than the
English, but they do it for relaxation and enjoyment. A few producers
are doing well though, Muyiwa Ademola, for example. Let me mention that
not all Igbo movie producers are making their mark; only a few of them
do movies with good quality, the likes of Amaka Igwe, Emem Isong, Jeta
Amata, Desmond Elliot. They are in a clique and are doing professional
things, which are different from the regular Igbo movies. It is the
orientation they have in the Yoruba set up that is stopping them from
moving and thinking like that. I am sure very soon they will understand
why they need to showcase some stuff out there.
Are there English actors you admire? I
admire Olu Jacobs and his wife [Joke Silva], Bimbo Manuel, RMD,
Genevieve, Ramsey Noah. The Yoruba [actors] Yomi Fash Lanso, Antar
Laniyan, Funke Akindele, and Fathia Balogun. We have a lot of them, but
if I mention too many people, I’ll step on toes.
Of all the movies you have ever acted in, which has been the most memorable? Iyan
Ogun Odun, and that is because of the role I played. I couldn't have
done it for money but for acting, I’ll do anything apart from getting
naked and having sex on set.
What would have been your reaction, should that have happened to you in real life? I’d run away. Far away from everybody, I wouldn’t even try to look at her because if I did, I would have forgiven her.
It has been eight years since you got married, how has the journey been
so far? In my home, there’s real love, and that is why I’m saying
there’s no love; a lot of people don’t know what love is. These days, a
lot of people don’t get married because of the love, they do it because
they have to be married or because of the wealth involved or the person
is pregnant and the marriage, forced. Mine has been great because I got
married to my friend, we dated for eight years and it has been awesome
till date.
You have a background in music, are you planning to delve into music soon? I
am not following that path. I used to play the drums, sing and dance
very well. I am a complete theatre person. For a lot of my colleagues
trying to sing, I can’t refer to them as musicians because music is a
very complex thing. They think it is all about beat, but that is just a
part of what is needed. Even the popular people aren’t musicians.
Finally, at age 44, when do you plan to quit acting? An
actor is an actor for life, I can’t stop acting. Oga Bello (Adebayo
Salami) is 60 and he’s still very active as an actor, so by 70 I’ll
still be an actor, but it may not be like this anymore, because I’ll
want to relax, I’ll be into production. I’ll have an outfit making
movies, not as a producer, but in partnership with some people. We will
have a producer, writer and directors, and I would be the technical
person.
