Most young actors are not well-trained —Joke Muyiwa

Joke Muyiwa needs no introduction as she remains a sought-after actress and one of the veterans that commands respect in the industry. In this interview with SEYI SOKOYA, she speaks on the secret of her staying power, among other issues.

 

Congratulations on your recent installation as the Yeye Asa of Ago Iwoyeland. How did you feel about this new title and how will it affect your personality?

I feel elated to be considered worthy as a cultural ambassador, especially from a kingdom and geographical setting that I am not from. This shows that the monarch of the land and the good people of Ago Iwoye are really feeling my positive impact on the youth and development of cultural events of the land. I feel honoured and I specially thank the Ebumawe of Ago Iwoye, Oba Abdulrazk Adenugba, for the rare honour. I ought to have received this honour two years ago, but I said I would receive the honour in due time. So, I think this is the right time God has appointed. I was installed alongside others that were honoured with different titles. I thank God that the event was a huge success. As an actor, in everything we do as Thespians we try to represent our culture and the face of Nigeria and that is why it is called Nollywood. So, apart from the make-believe world, we have a role to play as a worthy ambassador. The recognition is a justification of all I have been doing in the acting world.

 

Your constant face in the industry shows that you are not getting tired of acting despite the fact that you are in the academics How have you been able to cope?

The first thing is that I have passion for my profession. I am an actress and at the same time I’m in the academics. The fact is that the success of the performing art is highly dependent on field work. So, no matter how much of academic qualities I possess, if you do not practise, you cannot impact, because going by the name performing art shows that you must perform. Also, there is a little one can do in the academic field in terms of practical, because it is expected of you to show the students the practical aspect. But one can only gather data, information, skills, method, techniques on the field and bring them to the school to impact on the students, because at the end of the day, we expect them to be professionals and they are going to face the society as an expert in the profession. If we don’t experience it, we cannot teach and it will make life easy for them. Mind you, this is the education they paid for.

 

Are you of the opinion that your personality as a celebrity serves as a plus to your student?

Of course, even to the members of staff, because there have been several recommendations and words of encouragement from them all. These show that they understand what I am doing and also love it. In fact, I am proud with the fact that my status as a celebrity adds more to the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU).

 

Is this why you have refused to quit academics for acting?

I cannot quit both. You need to impact when you get to a particular stage in your profession, or what kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? I would say that the main reason I am acting now is to sustain my status till I retire from academics. I still want to be relevant after my retirement, because there is nothing too depressing for a creative mind other than to be lonely. I am confident that I will still be relevant after my retirement from the academics.

• I was afraid of being flogged, so I behaved myself —Lanre Razaq

 

The industry is still faced with lots of challenges. What is your take on this?

There is no profession that does not have its plus and minus. So, our creative environment is one of those. It is true that we have challenges, but as a Nigerian and an African country, we are very rugged and that is why we usually make do with the available opportunity granted to us. Of course, we have the Nigerian factor militating against the overall success: in terms of film village, sponsorship, energy, finance, among others. It has not been easy, but I believe we will get there. Some of us have been in this industry for 38 years and it is not easy for us to quit now. We just need to keep managing it. However, one of the things is to get our priorities right. We don’t have to leave a fake life or acquiring fame through crooked ways. We need to be focused and disciplined. Personally, I am more interested in the impact I make in people’s lives than the financial gains. This was how I was trained. Most times, were not being paid when I started theatre, yet we kept doing our thing with utmost happiness, but that is not the case today. We can only be successful in this profession through our genuine commitment and prayers.

 

Who were your contemporaries when you started acting 38 years ago?

I started theatre very early, around age 19, and my contemporaries are Clarion Chukwura, Ayo Babajide, who was behind the screen; Yemi Remi, Karan’s elder brother,  that is the English setting. You know I started from the English movie at the University of Ibadan with the professional English speaking company, University of Ibadan Performing Company, as well as Ife. So, I also have the like of Kola Oyewo and Peter Fatomilola; they are my senior colleagues. Also, Sola Onayiga, among others, are still practising, while some are dead. Some are no longer practising.

Then, we had a lot of passion for what we were doing. As I said earlier, most of us were not being paid, even if we go to Lagos for performance for six weeks, we don’t get paid instantly. We derived joy in doing radio and television plays, because we wanted to express ourselves. I prefer words of encouragement from people on what I do on stage. If I had enjoyed and centered on the financial aspect of it, I would have been a millionaire or billionaire, but it was not forthcoming. Even when I was with UI Performing Company, I was being paid N120 per-month and that was in 1981. That was my first pay, while Sam Loko was being paid N140. It was fun then when my salary was later increased to N300 when I returned from Ile-Ife to get my certificate. Most times, it was the cashier that would remind us that our salary was ready at the end of the month, because we were so busy doing our exercises and trying to interpret our characters from 10am till 8pm every day, except on Saturdays and Sundays where we do half-days. We didn’t even have boyfriends, because no one would tolerate us. All these were to maintain a team spirit, which usually helped us on stage. We loved one another, united and bonded.

 

Do you think such qualities exist in the industry today?

Of course, the industry is lacking all these qualities. This is one of the things that have become a challenge for us as an industry. We need to embrace oneness and possess integrity in this profession, because this is the only way we can excel as individuals and entity.

It is unfortunate that some people in the industry believe that once they appear on stage or screen, they will become millionaires. That is a blatant lie. It has due process and involves a lot of perseverance. This is what brought about the misconception for some fans that usually accost us (celebs) for money whenever we have cause to walk around the street; some people think I am carrying an ATM. They would say afe je ninu owo yin. I once told a cashier, who said he wanted to go into acting while attending to me at a hotel in Osogbo recently. I told him that, why should you leave your profession for mine, because you feel that I am a celebrity? I tell people, if I had not ventured into acting, I would be a driver, because by driving I would be a star in my own hobby. People need to have a clear understanding on how to go about, as well as excel in their chosen careers. You don’t have to abandon your own passion with the aim that you can shine in that of others. It’s my job that demands that I am a celebrity; it doesn’t make me change from being who I am.  I am interested in my job, as well doing it very well. That is why it is widely accepted. So, anybody can be great in his chosen profession if he loves and takes it seriously. The popular belief that whoever is seen on the screen is in money is not correct. People should not forget that it is a world of make-believe; it is an illusion.

We need to be educated. When you are a professional and properly trained in acting, you will realise that you know the value, ethics, and the demands of the profession. You will know you are supposed to develop techniques often. This is not restricted to acting profession alone. Personally, I never thought of stardom when I started, even if it came at that time it did not really bother me. I was much more interested in expressing myself. I prefer the word of encouragement. So, if we are well trained, we’ll have less of such people in the profession. You will realise that even most of these people fade off after starring in a movie. But those that are consistent in the profession will always be relevant.

Acting is beyond showbiz. One has to be versatile and be ready to take any role. In fact, many people hardly come to terms with me that I’m this young in real life. I guess maybe because of the different roles I play. It’s not because of make-up, I can interpret any role well, because I am not playing Joke. They can’t see it in the role.

 

Are you saying lots of fans are being misled by the word ‘celebrity’?

Yes. Many are being misled, because they don’t understand what it entails and this is because we stay among them unlike abroad where most Hollywood actors reside in a restricted location; they don’t just walk about the streets, but we are in a communal atmosphere here.  We are always being harassed everywhere we go, even in the market. This is one of the main reasons I was forced to tint my car, because the stress is becoming unbearable. It is not as if we don’t appreciate the fact that they are showing us love and appreciating our works, but some people have turned it to something else.

 

So, you agree that most young actors are not well-trained?

Yes. Some are not trained at all, and some are well-trained. Being trained did not mean one didn’t attend the university; education is not limited to the four walls of the higher institution. You can be an apprentice under some people, even as a graduate. But there are so many young actors that are not even interested in toeing this path. Some of my students when I was teaching at PEFTI always told me that they were not interested in following due process and that all they wanted was to feature in the popular soap opera, Super Story. Many are not aware that there are principles of acting. The way one speaks in real life is different from the way one speaks on stage or in front of the camera. You just have to make conscious effort to be heard because when you are on stage people who cannot pick your voice must be able to read your lips. This is why we still have bad or substandard productions in the market. Where should we place actors that cannot speak proper Yoruba, not to talk of good English? As for me, I can speak proper Yoruba; I also don’t toy with my Egba language. I can speak Oyo and English fluently, because I have passion for languages and I know that language is a medium of expression. If you are not good  at all these, you cannot be a good actor. How do you want to communicate? It is the basic thing in acting.

 

You hardly socialise among your colleagues. Why?

Yes, they respect me and I respect them. I am too busy to have a caucus, because even now, I am doing my PhD. At the same time, I am lecturing and practising as an actor; I am also a motivational speaker. I am very much involved in church activities too. So, I hardly have time for that and when I am not doing any of these, I relax. Though, they are all my friends and we associate when we meet each other, it is not as if it is deliberate. I am not just a party person. If am not in school, I will be in church and if am not in church, I will be on location. It has been the grace of God. There are so many people in the industry that are my mates and they are no more relevant. I thank God for how far He has brought me, because I believe that there are some people that are better than me in the industry. I pray that everybody gets to the peak of their career, because it’s not easy after having spent so many years in the industry and you suddenly become irrelevant. However, we cannot achieve this without God being by your side. One needs to be spiritual and at the same time, physical.

 

You, your son and two others were involved in a vehicle accident that many feared would have led to your death. You manage to survive unscathed. Some people were of the opinion that the survival was not natural. How will you react to this?

It can happen to anybody. I think it was a ball-joint that was faulty in the vehicle. At least, I have never been involved in any accident before. It was my son that was driving. I didn’t read any meaning to the accident. There are some roles that I have taken that I would have terrible dreams that I needed to support myself with prayers. But then, it is a risk that we all must take in this life.

 

Do you deliberately take strange roles?

I take any role because they believe I am a word-merchant; missionary and the only thing I do before I take any role is to pray. When you are a true Thespian, you have zero-tolerant for fetish things apart from praying, because you don’t have time. Once I pray, I believe that God will answer. It is His business to take care of that.

 

Aside the fact that you are a single mother, your son is relatively toeing your path as musician. To what extent did you influence him?

I did not influence him. I noticed he was developing passion for music, because he started turning bowls to drums when he was six month’s old. I was curious with his creativity. He gradually developed passion for drums, especially when we went to church. I thank God that his dream has finally become a reality. He has developed passion for music and he is currently doing great in the music industry.