Yemi Solade needs no introduction, he`s a household name in the movie
industry both the Yoruba and English genre. For some time now, the University
of Ife product who`s also flaunting 3 enviable Masters degrees in various
disciplines has not been visible on Klieg lights especially where he cut his
teeth-Yoruba industry. An eloquent firebrand by nature, the well educated actor
addressed some salient issues on the shortcomings of the actors in the Yoruba
genre and his views about the popular English movie world called Nollywood. In
this interview with Enquirer`s Murphy Fadairo, Yemi Solade who claims he`s
practiced acting for 35 years tells it all when we cornered him in his
Surulere, Lagos office recently. He also spoke on what it takes to succeed as
an actor, family life and other intimate secrets. It is very interesting.
You are known to be a pacesetter
both in the English and Yoruba genre of the movie industry; like they say Rome
wasn’t built in a day, how did acting start for you?
Acting started some 35 years ago
during FESTAC 77. Then, one was just a very green horn who didn’t know anything
about acting but as fate will have it I ended up studying DRAMATIC ARTS in the University
of Ife and it gave me the foundation that I needed to practice the profession.
So I am a dramatist. For over 30 years I have been doing it professionally and
even as a student of Dramatic Arts, I started earning money for acting. And up
till date I still practice as an actor. To have come that long and I am still
doing it; it means I will still be very much around. So that was the very beginning;
some 35 years now.
We all know this industry wasn’t
very big back then; in your own case, you`re a degree holder; if you had seen a
white collar job, would you have preferred it to acting?
I will be frank with you; I
dropped all white collar jobs that I have got to be focused as an actor. I
wanted to be an artiste: from the very beginning I had a focus and knew where I
was going; I knew that from teenage hood that I was cut out for entertainment.
I wasn’t dillydallying, I made up my mind that I was going to be an actor. Even
with my three Masters I can work anywhere but I made up my mind not to do
routine work. I am someone who does not like routine work; I wanted to be my
own boss. I have worked in places where I earned salaries; the last time I
earned salary was in 1993. When we started acting it wasn’t that lucrative. Any
actor worth a salt then started from the stage and we added radio drama, TV and
Nollywood, we started that some 25 years ago and we are still doing so; so any
platform where acting is done, you will find people like me because a well grounded
actor will ply his trade anywhere. So it wasn’t as if one was disillusioned as
to what one wanted to do or one was disenchanted; I made up my mind that I was
going to be what I am today and that is what I am.
35 years in the industry; how far
and how well?
An actor does not measure his
success by material things but in this part of the world, people relate with
you based on material acquisition. I will say I have done so much for myself
and for my immediate environment. I am not fulfilled yet but I have been
accepted by my own people. Even people outside the shores of Nigeria show us
love; that is an attestation that what one has been doing over time has been
accepted and the affection is registered on people’s faces. That alone is an
impetuous for one to soar higher than the present position that one finds
himself. Then how well? I will say it is well going by the Nigerian social
context (socio-economic situation); it is well.
What has the profession deprived
you of; are there things you would be doing if you are not an entertainer?
I don’t think being an actor or a
popular person has deprived me of anything. My privacy, I control very well. I
don’t belong to the class of actors who imprison themselves; I do whatever I
like to do. I am a free born Nigerian citizen; I eat in Bukataria. I am not given to unnecessary egoistic
tendencies. If I feel like peeing while I’m driving, because Nigeria is a place
where there are no public toilet I stand by the road and pee in the gutter. I
have tried over time to just be myself; I am not given to things that I hear my
colleagues pride themselves in. I just want to be the Yemi Solade, like the man
next door. I am not given to all those encumbrances that surround stardom.
First and foremost, I am not even a star; I am just Yemi Solade although I
agree that I’m a known face but I am not a star. My privacy is here as a family
man; I think I enjoy how I carry myself. I relate with everybody all rank and
files. One moment you see I am chatting with a state governor and most time I
am with those you call area boys. We are all human beings.
Which movie would you say brought
you to limelight and opened doors for you?
I can’t point to a movie that did
that. As soon as Nollywood started and I decided to add Yoruba genre to my
collection of works; I started from playing lead roles. What I know is that I
was doing everything with all my soul and I realized members of the society
were applauding to my art. I have done so much really.
At a point you were the toast of
all in the Yoruba genre but at a point too you fizzled out of the Yoruba movie
industry; was it on purpose or scripts weren’t coming?
I am a man who controls his
destiny apart from the one that God actually designed. I decide what I want to
do; I decided I was going to do Yoruba movies coming from where my colleagues
in the English genre thought I was not going to succeed. I went in there and I
conquered. Having conquered, the people I met on ground were jittery; they were
not comfortable. I am not just a regular actor who will exhibit his talent and
will not express himself; I am very articulate. I will air my views on things
that I find either good or bad in the system. So at a point I discovered a lot
was not doing it for me; I was seeing so much of unprofessional conducts from
fellow practitioners, things that I couldn’t live up with. For me I was just
crying blue murder here and there; and they were looking at me like what is his
stress. Some thought that because of my education I would not want to conform
to their own dictates. Why will I conform to dictates that are not in line with
my own beliefs? So at a point I said let me just chill out, I am not quitting
acting. So I decided again that, let me select jobs that I will do. A producer
invites me to a movie and I tell you’re my price; send me your script let me
read it and let me tell you if I want the role. But what you find in the system
is that somebody calls you telling you they want you to work for them in Oshogbo
tomorrow; that is not professionalism. At my level how dare you treat me like
that? This industry should be improving, 21st century. Don’t take us
back to the stone age, the Baba Ogunde era. By the time you start trying to
express yourself they feel uncomfortable. So I discovered that it wasn’t
working for me.
But in the Yoruba movie genre
they believe in assisting each other; don’t you want to help your fellow
colleagues?
I have helped those I can, acting
in their movies without collecting a dime. Am not a producer, if I want to
produce I know the people I will invite. I can’t invite about 90% of people I
have worked with because they are not professionally trained. Even the late great
Hebert Ogunde never recorded his movie himself; he brought expatriates to shoot
for him. Movie making is highly technical; you have to bring qualified and
professional people on set to get it right or else your story, talent will not
come out well.
So what is wrong in the Yoruba
movie industry?
The issue of please help us do
it is killing the system. I have not produced any movie yet I am still the king
of all of them. I will leave Yoruba
movie and still be king of acting. I am still acting; I am not confined to
Yoruba industry. I did everything in Yoruba industry apart from producing. I have over 50 scripts in my library; I am
not in a hurry to dish out everything.
Let us add the business to the show so it can be showbiz. In the Yoruba
setting you are seen as if you don’t produce you cannot succeed. And I am saying that am I not a success
story. You will see a Yoruba producer who has produced 100 movies, he is still
jumping Okada. How do you relate to that? A producer is a businessman; if you
don’t do the business the way you need to do it you will be impoverishing yourself
and killing the system. That is why the
English or non Yoruba are doing better than the Yoruba artistes. Ramsey Noah,
Aki and Pawpaw, Pete Edochie are not producers but they are highly regarded
than the Yorubas. Get your budget right. One other thing that has killed the
Yoruba movie industry is this group thing. Tunde Kelani, Tade Ogidan do not
have a group. It is the group that is killing the system.
Even with your qualifications we
still see you in more of soap operas, does it mean you can’t break into the
English genre?
I decide what I want to do. It
does not cost me anything to work with these guys. The beauty about what we are
talking about is that I follow my instinct. It is my decision not to work with
the English settings; if I release myself to them you will see me in their
movies. It is not for lack of not having the skills there or not being able to
express one’s self. I tell you what affects the Yoruba movie industry affects
the English too; they are even more arrogant. The one that affects the Yoruba
is education. Kola Oyewo will become an Associate Professor from being just a
grass root actor; he is a head of department at Redeemers University. That is the most successful story that I know
of an actor. It is not the amount of story buildings you have or cars; what
have you got up in your brain. I am a member of AGN, ANTP, I cut across. I can
ply my trade anywhere. What I do is that anyone that wants to enjoy my drama in
English language, look at the television you will find me on television. That
is why education is very imperative. If I had not gone to school; with what my
colleagues in the Yoruba settings have done to me you would have forgotten
about me. But they can’t trample on someone like me because I have equipped
myself with education. If I leave the industry today I can be anything I want
to be. RMD is a Commissioner today in Delta State; if he didn’t go to school he
wouldn’t have been a commissioner. It is not all about popularity, it won’t
make you grow. If you know how to go to the Embassy to apply for visa and
travel to US, UK, Germany you should be able to afford a tutor. I hate it when
I see someone that is talented that cannot express himself; it is an eye sour
to see people like that. I am sick and tired of antagonizing the ANTP, I am a
one man riot squad; I don’t believe in this caucus thing. I just believe that I
have gone to train myself to be an independent artiste. I don’t have Oga and I
don’t have Omo ise.
What should we expect from you in
the nearest future; is it just these TV soap operas or you have projects you
are working on?
I am using the soap to break from
the Yoruba movie or circuit since what I see presently nauseates me. You just
see children all over the screen, they appeal to their own setting and it is
not all encompassing, it is just a one sided thing. Let them enjoy their time,
I trust the style of the Yoruba movie industry it is just a matter of 2 or 3
years they bench you; they look for other blood but we will be there as long as
we have good health. Anybody that wants
me to feature, we talk price; if you are not doing this don’t call me again.
Gone are the days when I compromise.
What is your fee to feature in a
movie?
I don’t have a fee. I look at
your story; it is your story that will determine what I charge. I understand
the Nigerian market very well; I know that I will not ask for any outrageous
fee. I know a couple of producers I will not mention their names; my name will
never be in the register of actors they paid. I don’t want to mention their names;
they have paid every actor worth his salt but they will not pay me because I
don’t like their films. It is my choice; I became an actor by choice and do
what I want to do by choice.
But people may see you as being
proud or arrogant
Well, it is their choice. I just
know I do my thing my own way and I don’t follow trend. If that is arrogance; well
let them say. I don’t have to tag along with everybody.
What else do you do apart from
acting?
I anchor wedding ceremonies that
who is who in Nigeria will be there, I do motivational talks, I’m a UNESCO
Cultural Ambassador, I write and I direct some shows too.
So is that bye-bye to the Yoruba
genre which brought you to lime light?
I will not shy away from
registering the fact that because of the amount of work I did in the Yoruba
movie it gave me leverage. That is what a lot of people still relate with till
date. If you have a story and you accept my terms we do business. I am not
leaving Yoruba movies. I have shot a Yoruba movie this year before I stopped
and focused on soap operas. Acting goes.
Is Yemi Solade married?
Yes, I am married and I have kids.
How does your wife and kids relate
to your busy schedules?
When I’m not with them the phone
does a little there. They understand what I do, they know daddy is out there to
work for money and at the end of the day whatever I make I bring it home.
How long have you been married?
I have been married for a while; I
don’t want to be specific.
Have you ever been romantically
linked with an actress?
I don’t know about that but if you
must know I am married to an actress. Her name is Hanahmash; she is a
Swiss–Nigerian. She is not acting presently because she is taking care of the
home front.
How do you relax?
I relax with friends; I play music
and I like to be alone, it gives me time to meditate. I stay away from trouble.
I don’t party. If I have to step out I stay with my close friends who are not
artistes.
Where are you from?
I am from Igbeyin in Abeokuta Ogun
State. I was born in Lagos; I grew up in Surulere; school home and abroad. And
I am an actor; a Christian. That is just me.
A lot of your colleagues now go
into politics, are you also towing that line in the nearest future?
I won’t deny the insinuation that I
am looking in that direction; I want to call it community service. One has been
in a profession for this long and my ideologies of life are beginning to push
me away from my field. My ideas are a little bit too elaborate for the people I
practice with. So it is better I move a notch higher and relate with people who
understand my language. My work as an
actor is communal, we preach through our acts. Then I think I can do better
with community service. So if a governor of a state calls me to come and serve
I will gladly move. The reason is because if I move in, it will be a pointer to
people who do not have that belief that one can really move ahead. So people
who think that acting is the end will now realize that it is not so. If it
pleases God to move me within the political terrain I would gladly embrace it.
So that most of the things I want to achieve as an actor and I have not been
able to achieve, moving to the larger society politically will afford me the
opportunity. We have known the powers that be, one can go to them and say this
is your dream; do you share in this dream with me? 2015 let’s see what happens;
it might happen before then. I belong to two state governments, Lagos and Ogun
States; if any of these governors see any pedigree or potential in me then I am
open and easily assessed.
Do you have any word for your fans?
To my family of orientation, the
Solade family home and abroad; I thank them for producing me. I also thank my
wife and children for tolerating me and bearing all the stress. I want to thank
my fans for believing in me; I appreciate the love they have for me. I just
want to say I am not relaxing, if they are not seeing me in Yoruba movies let
them tune in their TV stations they will see me in at least 4 soap operas. In
the meantime I am also working on my own movies, so they should just keep
supporting me.
It has been nice chatting with
you.
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