Angel Funto Johnson is an up-and-coming actress, who played the role of 19-year-old Wana in the TV reality series, On The Real. She speaks with TAYO GESINDE on the challenges she faced on set and the difference between her character and her real self. Excerpts:
Challenges faced
It was my first shot at acting on television. It was quite challenging at times but it was also fantastic. I enjoyed every single minute of it. Even the challenges, when I look back now, I am like wow! We actually went through all that. At first I was nervous even before going in front of the camera, I was scared I would forget my lines and make us shoot a scene over and over again. To overcome that, I made sure I went through my lines and made sure I got the hang of things.
My character
She is 19-year-old and a university drop-out. She came to Nigeria on holiday and decided not to go back to the UK. She is someone with loose morals who doesn’t really care about much. She is just living her life and taking each step as it comes. She likes drinking, partying. She wants to be the next Faridah, to be in the spotlight.
Between my character and my real self
Wana’s background is different from Angel’s own in the sense that she is the youngest of many children and her parents were quite old so she was a bit neglected whereas in my own family, we are quite close and I am a middle child, I have two brothers, older and younger one and they are very protective of me. Though she has loose moral, I don’t. However, I am a liberal person. Though I am a few years older than 19, I was able adapt into the role.
My experience so far in acting
It is something I will like to do again. I had so much fun doing it. The cast and the whole production crew were supportive and very nice. They helped me a lot.
What acting means to me
We all act a lot during the day. The way you will act with a friend will be different with the way you act with your family so we all act unknowingly. But acting for TV is consciously portraying different personae.