Upcoming Nigerian Yoruba movies actress, Bukunmi Oluwashina gives insight to how being in the movie industry has affected her personality, including the changes she has had to made. In this chat with Saturday Beats, she also comments on the negativity new and upcoming actors are met with by industry gatekeepers.
On how being an actress has affected her personality, she says: “I am an introvert, I am used to being by myself but now I have to make friends and talk even when I don’t want to. I found myself in a profession that won’t give you friends if you’re real. But when you are fake, you will have a lot of friends and I am a blunt person. I am a very straightforward person.
I am not a party person; but in this profession, if you don’t show up for people’s events, they may think it is out of pride. I found myself offending people unknowingly. I am still trying to strike a balance between my personality and what people want me to be.”
On opportunities available to new and upcoming actors, she says: “I always knew I would be an actress, the trait has always been in me. Growing up as a child, I used to sing, dance and write scripts. In 2013, I shot one of my scripts and that was my first movie ever. We shot it and it is one of the best things that have happened to me. That was my breakthrough into the movie industry.
I didn’t really face too many challenges however, when I was trying to market the movie; a marketer had a problem with me being the lead actor in my own movie because I was an up-and-coming actress. He said he was going to buy the movie for a ridiculous amount of money because of that. Other stars featured in the movie but they weren’t ready to market the movie; I felt bad.
If up-and-coming actors are not given the opportunity to showcase their talents , how are they going to be discovered? We can’t continue to have the same faces in every movie. I was determined but the marketers’ words to me were depressing. I didn’t give up , we shot the movie and I thank God for his grace. Eventually, the marketers that rejected me then now call me to feature in their movies. I always go back to God when people talk down on me.”
