Hellurr Everyone!
Nollywood is blossoming more and more everyday, with new actors making their debut. It’s no wonder that we have up on the blog an amazing actor Omobola Akinde, who has performed on stage, television and in movies, including ‘Omoye’ the movie, upcoming series ‘The Cokers ‘ and the movie soon to be released, ‘Men Tally’
Though she is new to the scene, she has deep insight into the industry and the skill of acting, which would definitely catapult her into the A List!
Omobola is very easy going, with a sunny Lagos vibe up on her grind and an answer to every question in this interview with deep thought. But of course, she makes it seem effortless.
I ask her about herself and how she discovered her passion for acting, and she says,
‘I’m an actor, plus size model, presenter and psychologist- I like saying that part (lol). I’ve been acting since when I was in school. I just realised that I love to express myself in art forms. So I started in university when I joined a christian drama group, where we used to go acting from place to place. Even when I left school, I didn’t really focus on it. I knew I wanted to act, but I didn’t know when to start. There was a time in my life where I was free after my masters. I studied psychology and it was an eye opening experience, where I realised that whatever you study in school is a tool to your life’s purpose, and there’s so much more you can do. So I decided to try acting, and I met a couple of people who introduced me to auditions. One thing led to another and here I am.’
I ask her to describe her acting style, and she muses,
‘I like roles that challenge me. If I see a certain character different from anything I’ve ever done before, I’d like to take that up. I try to shoot full to the character I am to portray. I try as much as possible to believe it. If I don’t believe in the character I’m portraying, like I always say, the audience will not believe me. My style is to make my character believeable’
‘Stage or film, which do you prefer and why?’, I ask, and she answers,
‘I do stage, television and film. I say stage will make you a better actor, film will make you rich and television will make you popular. So any artiste needs to do the three.’
On Omobola’s most challenging role
thus far and how she prepared for it, she explains:
‘My most challenging role would be that role where I was asked to be an ibo woman, and I thought I couldn’t do it. Then I started to watch igbo films because I needed to have the accent. I’m not ibo, so I think it was quite challenging. And then my very first lead role in a t.v. series where I had to play a mother of two teenagers. I don’t have kids and I have never been married, so it was quite challenging to enter into that character and be a mother of two teenagers, and be a wife and all of that. But through it all, it has been good’
As a growing actor, I ask what kind of roles she thinks would be pivotal to getting her to the next level in her career, and she expatiates,
‘Well, there is no small role; there are only small actors. The truth is that in the acting world, you can never know; it’s just about staying true and giving my best to every character I find myself. I don’t know what role would take me there. I don’t know if it’s comedy or horror, but I believe you should give your best to everything that you find on your feet and that might just be your next stepping stone’
On the impact of film festivals in Nigeria and how up and coming actors leverage this platform, she elucidates,
‘Film Festivals are a great avenue to open up across, especially new producers to the world of film to let them know they exist. Short films are a way for upcoming producers who cannot afford to produce a feature film. It allows them produce a film on a minimal budget to showcase their talent. So film festivals are an eye opener to the world. So if you are a young film maker or an aspiring film maker, you could start with a short film and showcase it on a film festival and let people know what you can do. Call your friends that you know are actors to help you out. You might spend from little to nothing, but everybody sees that you can do this and that might be your stepping stone.’
On her favourite actors, Mobola squeals with delight as she says ‘I really love Bimbo Akintola. I adore her; she’s amazing. Rita Dominic as well. OC Ukeje is awesome. I like the way he talks. He’s believable. He’s so real.’
On the foreign scene, Mobola gushes some more, ‘I love Reese Witherspoon and Melissa McCarthy and Denzel Washington’
I ask about how her degree in psychology has given her an advantage in the movie industry and she replies,
‘Having a degree in psychology has actually helped me open my eyes to understanding characters especially when I am trying to get into the head of the character to understand why he said certain things. Psychology helps one understand people’s behaviour and why they do what they do. So it just helps me understand characters better and helps me in interpretation. It also helps me understand that there are many other ways in which you could go in your acting career. I have an acting coach in the US because I just believe there is so much more you can do. So, psychology has really helped me.’
On her dreams in the next ten years, she shares
‘I’m gonna have a talk show where I’ll help upcoming actors. I’m going to be an acting coach. I really like talking and helping people. and I will be one of the A List actors in Nigeria. I’ll also be a great director’
I probe further on her passion for coaching, she mentions,
‘I have a handle called @actorsstore on instagram. I am going to be launching a series of videos to help upcoming actors and producers, so watch out.’
Finally, I ask what movies we should look out for with her in it, and she says excitedly,
‘2 web series- ‘ The Cokers’ and ‘But You Don’t Get My Sarcasm’
I really love the characters I portray. One is a tv series and one is a web series. It’s amazing and I’m looking forward to it
It was comical, it was entertaining and it was real, so watch out!’
Follow Mobola on Instagram and Twitter to get the scoops on what she is up to!
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