Acting Started Like A Hobby, Now My Life – Funsho Adeolu

By Naomi Chima

 

Ace actor, Funsho Adeolu, speaks on his formative years as an actor and the factors responsible for the revolution in the Nigerian movie industry in this interview with Naomi Chima.

You once said you never studied theatre arts in school, how were you able to fit into the art of acting?

I am into entertainment regularly and I play instruments in church. I knew that it’s in me to be in the entertainment world, to dance and everything. So, one day, we formed something in FESTAC to look for a way to make money while enjoying ourselves. We picked a book, ‘King Emena’, which was used in schools and for examinations, and decided to act it in schools in FESTAC. But we needed a professional to train us, so we invited Antar Laniyan, and when he came, someone said Funsho, join us and that was it. And while at it, he (Laniyan) said I would go places and that is what I am doing up till today.

You said somebody made you realise your potential, and you picked it up from there. How were the formative years for you?

It was very sweet because I was not thinking of money when I started. I was just enjoying myself and hoping that one day I would be somewhere else. But when I saw that it was giving me money, I enjoyed it more. So, I did not see anything that was difficult about it because it was a passion for me, it was inborn. In my service year, we had theatre artists all over but I was in charge and was even retained in Oyo State to take classes like a professional. So, it is a passion for me, it is my life.

What was your ambition before Anta Laniyan discovered your acting prowess?

I used to be one of the people representing my school in literary and debating then. One day, somebody said ‘you know how to talk a lot so you could be a lawyer’ and so I was gunning for that all my life. So, when I got to secondary school, I was still thinking about law but I was in A level when I met Antar (Laniyan)  and I said OK this acting too could be a way for me. So, when I started, it was like a hobby, I wanted to still do law, I did jamb four times until I decided to study guidance and counseling which was not my line at all. So, for a long time, God was telling me ‘that is not your line’.

Do you need any special training to be an actor?

You have to be trained somehow, even if you don’t study theatre arts in school, you have to go through somebody that is a professional and will give you tidbits about acting. What I went through was an informal training; the only thing I did not do was to study the history of theatre but everything about acting generally was part of what I went through with Laniyan. He was my mentor and role model for a long time and he made me see that that’s my line and so I stuck to it.

Acting gets you to play different roles, how do you fit seamlessly into characters?

Getting into character and interpreting roles is a matter of giving you the basic things about acting and that was why I said it is important to have informal or formal training by somebody that is groomed in the theater. It is very important. So, when you do that you would know how to interpret roles.

What will you tag as the most significant factor that revolutionised the process of making movies for the Nigerian audience?

Well the inflow of Netflix, African Magic, Show Max, and all these stuff did a lot of magic. So, when people come to us, it is like a challenge for  us all when they say this is the standard we are supposed to meet. African Magic, Rock TV, Netflix, and others have standards for the films that they accept. So, because we already know that if we do not work up to that standard our movies will not go on their platforms, we then started doing a better job to get there. Also, what complemented it all was that people started learning how to direct movies, how to do sound and everything outside Nigeria. The improvement came by the revolution of people that came in to do business.