Adunni Adewale is one of the most alluring actresses to grace any movie. Her captivating style has earned her roles in hundreds of movies and she has, over the years, endeared herself to fans, with numerous awards to her credit. She spoke in a recent interview about her journey into Nollywood and what the future holds for her. ROTIMI IGE brings excerpts:
Could you tell us about your background?
Yes, I was born in the United States. I was there for a few years, and then I was brought here. I had my primary and secondary education here, and then I went back. I had more than 10, 15 years of work experience in the field over there, I had my kids before even coming back here.
Having done over 250 movies, does that mean you have acted over generations and witnessed the rise of Nollywood over the years?
With Nollywood, you can film every single day from one set to the other depending on how your body can handle this. Yes, and that used to be me. I would work every single day except three days. My children’s birthday, both of them and my birthday. Additionally, any Islamic holiday, I will not work. Call me New Year, if I’m free, I’ll work. So I was always on set. In a month, let me say for instance with Yoruba industry, they might need you minimum three, four, five, six days. Now imagine you doing that for a whole month. How many films will that be?
How many years would you say you have been in the industry?
I moved to Nigeria in 2011, December. So since then.
That’s been over 10 years. What would you say has evolved in the last decade?
The equipment we use, acting skills; people are getting more training. Even the crew, those behind the camera, everyone is evolving and putting Nollywood on the map.
How have you evolved?
I started out as a skit maker back in the United States, and that’s how I got my first job in Nollywood with Saidi Balogun. I flew down and featured in his film, ‘You or I’, which was released in 2013.
I had come to Nigeria to shoot right after I had my second child. I believe he went around the world doing this project. He had a lot of Caucasians in the film, but my bit was shot here in Nigeria. That was the first film that I came down for and I went back.
But I would get calls to come and shoot a movie, and it was more of a fly in, fly out type thing. I realised I could not keep doing this, because it’s a new phase.
How many people are willing to take the risk of paying for an airline ticket? So, I decided that maybe I should just move down.
I had a very deep discussion with Ramsey Nouah whom I had met in Maryland at one of my family friend’s houses. We met up at a mall in D.C., and it was just fascinating to see Africans across the continent, and I’m not talking about Nigerians, Africans, coming up to him, taking pictures, and him relating with people. It was just a beautiful thing to see that he had gained this face, this fame. He has worked so hard to get to this level, and we had a conversation in the food court. I couldn’t eat, he just sat there eating, and I was just sitting there listening, and he said, for you to do this, you have to be in people’s faces. So if you know this is what you want to do, because I was acting and also working with the government, and he said, you have to be in people’s faces. You can’t do this flying thing back and forth. You have to be in Nigeria, If you want to give Nollywood a shot, move down here, time yourself, do the best that you can.
He said, there are two ways to make it. Either you go the fast route or the easy route. He said, the fast route, you get to the top real quick, but you’re going to fall right back down. Or you take the route that seems like it’s slow, that takes years and years to accomplish anything. He said, there are going to be days you want to quit. There are going to be days you’re going to cry. There are going to be days you just want to give up and say, you know what, I’m done. He said, but just hang in there.
He said, just looking at you, you look like that woman who’s going to take that ‘hard route’. It was almost as if I was just looking for someone to say that to me, just to validate my thought process, so I packed everything with my kids and moved to Lagos, and it was hard. As you can imagine, there have been days that I cried and wanted to give up. There have been days that I’ve packed my things up and said, there’s a 9 to 5 job waiting for me in America. You have to understand, I am different, I look different, I sound different, and though it’s not really a disadvantage, I have to prove myself to filmmakers, directors, and others. To the point that they will say, ‘you know what, this girl is giving it her all. Her colour doesn’t mean anything. Give her a chance’.
From the outside, people look at me as fragile, like ‘aje butter’, that kind of mentality. But I think I have tried the best that I can to prove to people that I can get down and dirty. I can be that proper Nigerian woman you need me to be, and in my life, in real life, there’s no situation you put me that I cannot maneuver in. If you put me with the ‘rough ones’ on the street, the thugs, we’re there. I mingle with them the best. Prim and proper, you can find me there. Whatever situation that I find myself in, it is so easy for me to navigate and just maneuver through.
After that long conversation with Ramsey, over a decade back, why did it take you so long to work with him?
That’s not in my hands, I’m not God. If he was sitting here, he would tell you that every single time that I saw him, I would ask him. But you have to understand that he didn’t buy my plane ticket to Nigeria, he just gave me that pep talk that I felt I needed. I believe in destiny, what is meant to be, will be. At the right time, it would happen.
I would approach him every time I see him at film festivals, award shows and say, “Bro, we look alike. You can play my daddy, I can play your daughter, or you can play my brother and I your sister.” But it was never the right time, and he’s someone who’s not going to cast you if you don’t fit that role.
Your role in the new film, ‘Tokunbo’, how did you get it?
My character’s name is Iya Mulika. a.k.a Iya Muliks. That’s what Chidi Mokeme calls me. Now, Iya Mulika is just like it sounds, a street woman, or that woman in the hood that you can always go to. She sels ‘wosi wosi’. Local drinks, beer, things like that. She’s that woman that is bleached out, washed-out woman, sunburned, and he didn’t want just anyone. When you watch it, you would see the physical transformation that was given to me to look like what Iya Mulika should look like based on the character.
Can you tell us some of your hard days and how you were able to overcome them? Or were you at any time pressured to be part of any particular clique or troupe, particularly in the Yoruba industry?
I think you’re getting it wrong. Never have I seen any clique or troupe or group of people that it always has to be them filming together. With me, I work with anyone. If your story is good and you’re paying me well, I will film for you. As long as I’m available for that date, I’ll be there. They know that. I don’t know how other people work, but I never saw any troupe or group. I work with everyone, even people that I never thought I would come in contact with.
I’ve always expressed my gratitude to Yoruba filmmakers and directors, because they don’t stereotype me. They give me that role that you would think “ah, she might not be able to do this”. Mr. Latin, at one point in time called me to play a Nigerian police officer. Any other time, nobody would want to call me for that because they would feel like, oh, she’s too light-skinned for that, but he didn’t think that.
I’ve played so many characters that I’m always thank God that I got it. So I’m always very appreciative that I was never limited to roles that were being given to me. Sometimes playing lead or a character where it would involve parents might be difficult for a filmmaker or a director to cast. They may wonder who’s going to play my mom or dad, someone that looks like me. But Yoruba filmmakers never had that problem. If I needed to play someone’s daughter, Madam Saje was there, Shaffy Bello was there. So many people played my mom, and they would just find a story to say about the dad.
There have been days when I would get a call, read scripts, and be excited about the character. I’m already in that mood thinking of how am I going to transform into this person and just deliver, and then last minute, they change their mind. Many times, we’ve even negotiated, and then the next thing is a no. Back then, it would affect me and bug me, because I would wonder if they did not consider it before reaching out to me.
It happened again recently, but I was just like, okay, cool, no problem, another day to rest. They had called me for the job and negotiated, and we just wanted to get to the contract. I called the producer for something else entirely, and he was like ‘oh Adunni, they wanted a specific group of Nollywood, the Ogs’. I said, what do you mean by the OGs? They’re the ones that have been in the industry 25 years or more, and I said, like who? And he mentioned, I said, oh, I understand. When he gave me what the producer wanted, I saw that I don’t fall in that category, and I didn’t even see it as an issue.
How did you get back into the Nigerian system? Especially in Nollywood, because at the time you came, Nollywood was not as structured as it is now?
I’m a very strong-minded person, and where I’m heading is where I focus on. There’re no distractions. Even if there are bumps on the road, I will skip right over it and just keep moving. I don’t let anything distract me. Maybe because of where I’m coming from, and whatever I might have experienced in the past, it has kind of groomed me to know how to deal with the situations that are presented before me.
With the Yoruba industry, there are traditions that particularly some females insist on, like the use of auntie or mummy. How did you cope?
I have never had any problem with calling someone aunty, never. Maybe it’s just how I was raised, I was raised by my grandma. I’ve said this quite a few times. That’s who I’m named after. My grandma, she’s Adunni as well. When an elderly person grooms or raises you, there are some things you just know. I also have a well-educated, well-grounded father in my life that has taught me the good, the bad, the ugly. I’m a very disciplined person, and I’m also particular about my work ethic. So, I give respect to whoever wants it. I can use ‘e’ for anybody, I don’t care. I just want to come work and move on to the next job. Using Auntie, Uncle, it’s nothing.
Your first executively produced movie, SOÓLÈ, was one of the top grossing rated movies in 2021. What was the experience like, and how did you feel knowing that it became one of the top 10 grossing movies of all time in 2021?
Just like anyone would feel, it was seamless. I really cannot stress how determined and focused I am. I’m not the one to speak too much, I let my doings do the talking. One of the things that made me create the roles was the fact that I wasn’t getting the roles that I wanted. So I said, you know what, I’m going to create my own production company. I’m going to write a script, and I’m going to hire anyone that’s talented, regardless of your background, your tribe, your color, whatever the case, I’m going to give you a shot. As long as you can deliver, and there are a lot of folks in my film who pretty much was their first time being on screen. Some may have even worked behind the camera, but I give a whole lot of people that shot to express themselves, and I was just happy to see everyone’s delivery.
I really did not know what to expect as far as how far it would go.
I still would say I wished it did way more than that because it deserved it. You know, when an actor decides to produce, there’s this uncertainty from the viewers, like it might not be good. Maybe that’s what I kind of got, but I pushed it with every being of myself to make sure it got to what it did, and when it came on Netflix, a lot of people, a lot of the audience, were even apologising for not seeing it in cinemas and waiting until it got to Netflix to watch.
If you were a Nigerian meal, which would you be?
‘Amala, ewedu ati gbegiri pelu inu eran’, how else do you say it?
Why should anybody watch ‘Tokunbo’ the movie?
The project was made with so much love, blood, sweat, tears. We gave it our all in producing this and making this film. It’s an action film. There’s suspense, there’s drama, and if you know anything about Ramsey Nouah, you know he’s going to deliver, you know Chidi Mokeme is top notch, you know Gideon Okeke is not backing down from delivering his roles, and you know Adunni Ade will give you the best.
I really did not know what to expect as far as how far it would go.
I still would say I wished it did way more than that because it deserved it. You know, when an actor decides to produce, there’s this uncertainty from the viewers, like it might not be good. Maybe that’s what I kind of got, but I pushed it with every being of myself to make sure it got to what it did, and when it came on Netflix, a lot of people, a lot of the audience, were even apologising for not seeing it in cinemas and waiting until it got to Netflix to watch.
If you were a Nigerian meal, which would you be?
‘Amala, ewedu ati gbegiri pelu inu eran’, how else do you say it?
Why should anybody watch ‘Tokunbo’ the movie?
The project was made with so much love, blood, sweat, tears. We gave it our all in producing this and making this film. It’s an action film. There’s suspense, there’s drama, and if you know anything about Ramsey Nouah, you know he’s going to deliver, you know Chidi Mokeme is top notch, you know Gideon Okeke is not backing down from delivering his roles, and you know Adunni Ade will give you the best.
Read Also: Tinubu’s wife donates N1bn to OAU
