What It’s Like To… Be An Emerging Actor in Nollywood

Though she’s landed a few spot roles, Okonyon, like many others, is still trying to break through the hulking organism that is Nollywood, where audiences have complained of actors being recycled.

In a recent interview with Channels TV, respected filmmaker Niyi Akinmolayan stated that casting decisions factor in business, which further stacks the odds against young actors. “We need to raise new actors. But we must also be very careful,” Akinmolayan said. “You’re not going to make a Netflix Original, which automatically means a lot more money, and then you’re going to throw [existing actors] out, it's not going to happen. Netflix will not make these originals if they do not feel like it has faces that can actually get people to want to see the film.”

Being an emerging actor in Nollywood is not glamorous. Below, in parts edited for length and clarity, Okonyon tells us all about it.

Osas Okonyon: The very first thing I said I ever wanted to be in my life was to be an actor, but it was shut down immediately. But then, I was still in the drama groups in church and school. There was this particular drama play that I wrote, directed and acted in. I remember my Sunday school teacher saying, ‘I almost could not recognize you up there, you should really do this.’

It was in university that I finally decided to pursue it. That’s when I realized that it wasn’t as easy as I initially thought. I thought that I’ll just do this one audition, get my big break and then, you know, start to ball. I had such lofty dreams.

There is that moment where you feel like you know everything and then you get into this space and see many of the challenges that filmmakers face and it’s like, ‘Okay, I understand now.’ So, getting in there and seeing that people are also trying to now penetrate the system and it’s like, ‘Oh my God, this is not a walk in the park.’ At some point, it became like a love-hate thing, like I absolutely hate why this thing is like this, but at the same time, I absolutely cannot do without it.

That was really sad for me. And as if things couldn’t get worse, my money was stolen that day and I had to beg for transport back home. I trekked quite the distance before I finally found one of those bus conductors that helped me. I took a bike from my bus stop and I was like, ‘My mummy will pay you.’ When I [got home], I looked at [my mother] and she just pulled me into a hug. It was quite the introduction to Nollywood.

But, of course, I’ll try again and I did one that was much more favorable for me. In fact, they loved me immediately. I think they also wanted someone who could sing and I sang and it almost felt like I blew their socks off. This one was much calmer, less people, even more private, you just go into a separate area, do your audition, and they get back to you. And they did get back to me. I got the role — in fact, I got a major role and we shot some scenes, but things happened with production and the film never came out.

I don’t know if I should be saying this, but I absolutely detest open auditions. I know people that wake up as early as 2 a.m., some even sleep at the venue, depending on who the call is coming from. Sometimes you get to audition, sometimes you don’t. There was this one, at some point, they asked us to go in groups of four or five. As soon as we walked in, [the casting director] looked and was like, ‘Sorry, I don’t have room for any of you.’ Also most of the time, some of these producers already know the people they want to cast. So, why would you call for an open audition?

I don’t like the patterns that a lot of open auditions take. I would rather just send in my monologue, send in my reels and resume, and hope that I get a callback. Then we can have private castings.

You should know that I also still have a 9-5. I work in media and currently lead the weddings team at BellaNaija. Balancing that with Nollywood has been quite the journey. I think the fact that the work is mostly remote helps, and what I try to do is manage my time really well. So, times when I know that I have to be out during the day, I work at night.

Obviously, my job is important. I’ve always said I don’t want to ever be desperate. I don’t want to ever be in a situation where I’m just taking any [role] just for the sake of it. I’m very deliberate about the way that I want my career to go and I’m very thankful that my job is flexible, and my CEO Uche [Pedro] is really supportive.

I don’t have to drop one for the other yet. If I can balance both as I’ve been doing, then I’ll continue like that until it gets to a point where I’m like, ‘Okay, maybe one now has to go.’ But for now, I can do this, so I’m doing it. Film is definitely here to stay, though.