This was gathered in a recent interview while speaking on the casting and production of the international movie released on Netflix, the popular movie producer, Kunle Afolayan was asked why he made a notable actor, Yomi Fash-Lanso to play a mute role in the widely publicized movie.
In his response, Afolayan said Fash-Lanso is a veteran actor who has been in the industry for a while. Adding that a good actor should be able to interpret every role perfectly and take every role seriously.
He said: “Yomi is a veteran actor who has been around for about three decades. When I contacted him about whether he will be able to take a role without speaking, he said to me ‘Kunle, best actors don’t have to talk or say a word for them to express themselves.’ Yomi took the role and played it perfectly.
As a matter of fact, we considered some actors for that role but they gave flimsy excuses. I want other actors to understand and learn from this. When you are called for any role, don’t just look at it as anyhow. How many scenes did Samuel L. Jackson do in ‘Coming to America’? But that was one of the films that made him.”
Also speaking on Temi Otedola, daughter of Nigerian billionaire, Femi Otedola, who played “Moremi” a lead role in the movie and was a debutante in the film, Afolayan described her as a very disciplined actress.
He said: “Temi is very disciplined. Every day, Temi was on set, she would wake up as early as 6:00 am and she would leave in the night. Sometimes when I feel she is tired or tense, I will suggest whether to move the scene to the next day and she will insist saying “No, no let’s do it.” As a filmmaker, if you keep getting this from someone, there’s no way you will not want to keep them on your set because that is what you call pure discipline and passion.
I remember I called her (Temi) for the first time and asked her to do a monologue: ‘Imagining that a lecturer is trying to bully you and you are helpless then sit by the window, no makeup, no wig, just internalize and express yourself.’ After some time, she sent me a video and I replied with ‘Okay, that’s good.’ I just called my team that we’ve got a female lead for the film.’ You know, it is very rare to find someone who will speak English, French, and Yoruba and who has the look and other characteristics. So, these are the things I found in her.”
Citation, as a movie is focused on sexual and gender-based violence in universities across Africa, meanwhile, Afolayan said culture has nothing to do with sexual and gender-based violence.
“I don’t think so. A bad person is a bad person and a good person is a good person. Our culture is really good because we are respectful people and we hold our culture in high regard.” He said.
