Popular actor, Lateef Adedimeji, has become one of the most sought-after actors in the Yoruba movie industry where he is currently holding sway and winning awards. In this interview by Segun Adebayo, the graduate of Mass Communication from Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) speaks on his career and life.
You have been in the industry for quite a while but it seems it took you a long time before you truly discovered yourself. What do you think was responsible for this?
I don’t think anything was wrong or there was a problem, but I feel it is going to take time before things start taking the shape that you desire. The truth is that when you take your time to do something, you must ask yourself if it is worth the wait and the risk to build yourself on the necessary things you should build yourself with. So, when you get into the real and bigger picture, you will be able to manage yourself and stand the test of time. For me, it is not only about the talent that you have, it is about how well you have been able to nurture and develop your talent, how long will you be able to last with that talent? What happened was that I took my time to build a lot of characters that would help me to keep going on throughout the journey.
Talking about characters, you are known for switching from one character to another. You have not really been consistent with one, is that your strategy to stay relevant?
The fact is that you can’t wear or stay in one character for a long time, people will get bored and would want to see you in another one. I have built enough characters that can last me for another 30 years in the industry. As soon as one character is out of touch, I switch into another one. So if you are lucky to have five characters that can stand the test of time for another 40 or 50 years, then you know you are going to remain relevant for a long time. So, I took my time in building myself on a lot of characters because I realised that when fame comes, it might get a little busy for me and I might get caught in the web of adversities and issues of life.
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While you were building those characters, some of your colleagues were probably sealing the deals and appearing on every movie that was released. In those moments, what were you thinking and how did you manage to stay focused?
How then did you break into the Yoruba caucus of the movie industry? I understand that it is not always easy.
It is a whole lot of work. You need to belong to somebody, have a boss and belong to a caucus. At first, I didn’t believe in caucus because of where I was coming from, but they made me realise that you can’t get jobs in the industry if you don’t belong to one of the caucuses. Eventually, I had to join one of them. In 2009, I started putting calls to a lot of people, but eventually, I called Afeez Eniola, who asked me to come over. I went to him and he invited me to my first job, where I was asked to hold the camera for three days. He asked me to pay money for membership. They told me I had to be coming for rehearsals and all. In fact we had a lot of issues initially because I went for another job that was outside the Yoruba industry and I didn’t find it funny when I came back. The very first location I went to was in Ibadan, and despite all I had learnt before I joined the industry, I had to drop everything and became an errand boy. I followed Uncle David Otemolu holding the camera. If they needed anything, I was the one getting it for them. I did that for about three days on that set. I think I appeared in one scene and later two and three until the big break came when Yewande Adekoya shot Omo Elemosho. I was supposed to be in the part one of the movie, but I had a fight with my bosses, so they asked me to stay away from locations.
What went wrong?
I went to a location without their express permission and I was punished for it. I was fined N10,000 and I told them I didn’t have that kind of money. So, I went back home and was always persuading them to lift the suspension so that I could return to locations. But as God would have it, Yewande had shot the part one and part two of the movie, but the part two had not been completed, so they wanted to shoot some few scenes and we were on a location in Oyo town and Yewande came around. She said she wanted me to shoot one or two scenes, but I ended up shooting two scenes. When she was going to shoot her next movie, Kudi Klepto, she insisted that she wanted me. Yewande told me he believed I could do it even if everybody believed I could not, but she decided to go with me. So, I got the script and I started rehearsing in my room and I got to the set. I did my thing and the movie came out and it became a big one. That was the movie that gave me my break.
The movie was very popular, you must have been paid a lot of money?
I was paid. In fact I got N10, 000 or N15,000. Was that a big money? She even paid me well because after that movie, I played another lead role of N4000. There was a movie that we shot in Ilorin, where I spent about 10 days on location. If I told you how much I was paid for that movie, you would be alarmed. They even told me they were helping my career, so I didn’t deserve to ask for money. I was paid N1000 after 10 days on location. Odunlade Adekola and Toyin Abraham were also on the set of that movie.
How did you manage to cope with such poor fee?
It was really hard. I remember I would go back home to ask my dad and mum for money and they would ask me what I had been doing on locations for weeks if I was not going to be paid. At that time, they were expecting me to be taking care of my younger siblings, but I was there asking them money for transport to locations.
Now that you have finally arrived on the big stage, how have you been handling fame?
Handling fame has not been easy. In fact, I am not even enjoying it. I told my father sometime ago that if I knew fame was going to be this hard to manage, I would have preferred to be a teacher. Yes, it has been fun, but it is really hard. The problem you face when you are not known cannot be compared to what you are going to face when you are known. Sometimes, I would burst into tears when I look at the obstacles that come with being famous, I would just want to end it all. You will almost lose your head at some point when you look at the fun, the ladies keep trying to have a piece of you, the ecstasy and other things attached to it.
But at some point, you almost lost it. You were rumoured to be sleeping with different girls and you were said to be the hot cake in the industry.
I wouldn’t say I didn’t almost lose it, but for my parents, my Islamic background and Islamic clerics, who were almost drawing me back when I almost lost my head. Some of the things you do that you think you have got away with would come back to stare you in the face and you would look stupid. They would almost break you. For me, it is all part of growth. You have to go through some of these things so that you can share your experiences to people.
So you have a weakness for ladies being around you?
At some point, it was a weakness. A lot of people would say I shouldn’t be caught doing this or that because of my religious inclination and the things I post on social media. People tend to confuse my life as an actor with my religion. I have never said to anyone that I am a saint or I am better than anyone religiously, but people just say what they like when you fall victim of some circumstances. I have never proved to be a saint, so people should stop coming to me with that story. I have made mistakes and I have done things I am not proud of, but I am happy with my life and I give God the glory.
Some of your colleagues say there is no love in the industry, but some of you act as though you love one another. What exactly is the problem with the Yoruba movie industry?
I heard people talking about xenophobic attacks in South Africa, but what is happening in the Yoruba movie industry is worse. If people attack you using weapons, at least you can defend yourself and guard against being killed or attacked. But when someone goes about using their mouths to ruin your career and life because they hate you, then you will know that it is worse than xenophobia. The only thing is that they don’t kill with their hands but their mouths. That is exactly what my industry is about. I have said it before and I will say it again, there is no love in my industry, everything you see out there is fake. The Yoruba movie industry may not grow until we start supporting ourselves and showing genuine love to one another. Don’t be fooled by what you see on social media platforms. Of course we would laugh, joke and play when we see one another, but it doesn’t go beyond that place.
What do you think of the leadership of the Yoruba movie industry?
Everything still boils down to lack of love. The young ones don’t trust their elders and the elders don’t love themselves enough to bring about change. In Nigeria, we only have one president, but in our industry, we have many presidents lording themselves over the people. It is worrisome, but we have to keep talking and hoping that things would change. Do you know I almost quit the industry some years back when I got tired of everything going on? But I was told that if we leave, what becomes of the industry? The truth is that the elders will leave one day and when they are gone, what would happen to the industry?
You have been linked to be having an affair with a number of ladies in your industry, will you be settling down with any of them?
I am settling down very soon.
Is your wife to be in the industry?
No. But very soon, you will hear the wedding bells, but only a few people would hear about it when it happens. I am not under pressure to settle down even though my parents want me to settle down early. I have to be careful about who I want to spend the rest of my life with because if I get it wrong at this stage, it might spell the end of my career. I can’t afford to marry somebody who does not understand the industry and how it works.
But we hear you are dating one actress. Is this true?
I have heard people say that too. We just finished shooting a movie where we took some wedding pictures that went viral and people have been talking about it. It is so hard in the industry to get close to a female. People should stop paying attention to the noise and focus on positive things. For me, when I act with you and it is emotional, it has to be real. I don’t know how to fake it.
So, you and these girls have never taken the romance beyond the movie set?
It has never happened. It always ends on the movie set. If we want to take it beyond that level, it is our problem but it would come with a lot of pressure and problems. I had dated in the industry before and we were almost getting to the point that we would get married, but things didn’t work out.
How did your deal with Airtel happen?
I think it was just the grace of God. At first, I was just called to come and roll an advert when I did the ‘Amin Maami’ with Iya Rainbow. The second time too was like that. At the third time, Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award (AMVCA) was close at that time and I was on the set of Kunle Afolayan’s Mokaliki. I was told that I needed to represent Airtel at the event to present an award. Initially, I didn’t want to leave the set because I felt if I was going to represent Airtel at such a gathering, I have to be an ambassador and other brands who might want to make you their ambassador might be there and conclude that you are with Airtel. So, due to that, I couldn’t just leave the set and be part of the event. It was after the event that a call came through and we had a discussion on how they could engage me as an ambassador for three years. So, I signed the deal and here we are.
and then