Yemi Solade is one of those actors who have seen it all from stage and film. The 61-year-old who has lasted more than 40 years in the Nigerian film industry, speaks to eelive.ng’s Damilare Famuyiwa, on why he’s yet to produce his own film and the state of Nollywood.
How did the journey start?
I have been active in the movie industry for over forty years. I started acting around the same time as veterans like Olu Jacobs, his wife Joke, RMD, and Antar Laniyan, started. All of us that are now getting old including my big brothers, Adebayo Salami, and Jide Kosoko commenced acting during the same period. We started on stage. I trained in the theatre under Professor Woke Soyinka at the then University of Ife, Ile-Ife. I’m a dramatist. Interestingly some of us are lucky by having the grace to do stage and film.
So far, how would you describe the journey of over 40 years?
For me the journey has been a rollercoaster . There have been ups and downs, tough and good moments, just like it is for people in other professions. Sometimes, I ask why I’m doing this, and other times it is the best decision I made. But for me, if I come back to this world, I’ll do the same thing all over again. I don’t know if it will be in Nigeria, but I’m sure of being an actor in my next life [Laughs]. It is the widest profession in the whole world; it’s the only profession that covers any other profession. Today, I can be a journalist, that is who you are – I can play you. Tomorrow, I can play a doctor, the next could be a lawyer.
I could even be a police officer in uniform or an armed robber. I play as a Christian, I also play a Muslim. Acting for, is the best profession in the world! You can play everybody. I can play head of state today and tomorrow, a gateman. Although, it is not everybody that has the grace to play everybody. But as a prolific actor that I am, I’m still evolving even after over four decades.
How did Yemi Solade transition from a stage actor to film acting?
I wouldn’t say I transitioned. Any good actor should be able to play a stage in any of these mediums. A good actor should act on stage, and also know how to perform on radio, television and films. An actor is a doer, acting means doing. Everyone is an actor but not everybody is a professional actor. As you are, you’re an actor if there’s CCTV, you’ll see your movements, your gestures as you’re talking, as you’re interviewing me, so you’re acting. But you are not a professional actor because a professional actor has rules to follow.
We have techniques, methodology and all of that. Those are the things you must learn, and it’s just like football. You play football too, don’t you? But you can’t play like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo because you’re not a professional footballer. That is the thing and in Nollywood, everybody is a pretentious actor. So, it’s not about transition, it’s an evolution.
How have you remained relevant in all of this?
I adapt so easily, I’m flexible. All I know is that I hone my skills every time to remain relevant. I let my work speak for me, I don’t just look for a position in the industry. Though I’ve been the president of a professional body. But I just like to be the consummate actor that I’ve always been because acting is something you cannot hide like pregnancy…Well for me, it has been a world of fantasy, a world of reality because this is the only thing I’ve done all my life, when I don’t work, I chill. I go out on assignment only when it’s important if they are good ones, otherwise, I don’t see what I’m all-around town for.
So just to do justice to that question, my own is I practice what I preach in most cases and I try to impact the society through my works even when I don’t produce which I eventually want to start this year, but I’ve been finding acting so easy for me to go out there and come back to my house. It is just like an integral part of the production process. I don’t have to sit down with the editor or the producer. Permit me to ascribe my relevance in the industry to the grace of God, like people will say -“Anu ni mo rigba”, it’s the favour of God.
After more than 40 years of being an actor, you are yet to produce your own film. Why?
To be honest with you, I don’t even know if I would produce. Although, eight years ago, I produced a film; I never released it, and it was intentional. Producing the film wasn’t what I was keen about, it was my P.A that forced me into doing it, I was not ready. I don’t like doing things when I’m not ready. To produce a film in Nigeria is not an easy exercise. It is easier for me to act and leave the place in no time compared to me producing the film. This is Nigeria where the fees are not interesting… If you invite me today on your set and I’m working with you for two days or so; you give me N500,000, I’ll do my job for the two-three days and I’m back in my house with my N500,000.
Why do I have to go and kill myself, chasing everybody around, begging everyone to act for me and collect this fee. You’re begging everybody that you don’t have to beg. I don’t have that kind of temperament to beg people because you’re not doing me a favour; we want to work together and this is what I have. I just don’t have that nerve to beg people, and sadly that’s what happens. We get begged. A Producer will be pleading with you to assist him or her, he/she would be like “We don’t have money, please help us by featuring in this film.”
All these things make you wonder as an actor, if your job is for charity. You’re doing business, you want to make money and you’re begging someone who has been there for that long, tested and trusted, experienced, educated, good looking to work for you for free. It would even surprise you that we bring things on your location. Our clothes are what we use as costumes for another person’s film. What for? My own clothes that I bought and sewed, my wrist watches, my shoes, my vehicle! Maybe because of my own training and exposure, I would just like to do what is right and do it well.
Again, one thing I always tell people is that not everybody would become a producer, because really, not every footballer ends up being a coach, likewise not every journalist will own a newspaper company or set up a radio or TV station. I’m sure you understand that. You have your own area of specialisation and you’re doing very well there, you grow in it and grow old; you can even die without producing as an actor. Not everyone in Hollywood is a producer but there are many producers in Nigeria.
Some are not even worth it, they’re supposed to be prosecuted for producing, because when you see some works, you would ask yourself how could this person be producing? Why should this kind of film come out at all? Most actors are not interested in whether the film would be big or make it in the market; as long as they’ve collected their money, everything else doesn’t matter. Now, you see why acting is fun? It’s a very big job the producer is doing…So, I don’t subscribe to that school of thought that every actor should be a producer.
What’s your take on the present condition of Nollywood?
To be honest with you, I’m so worried, bothered and angered by the poor nature of Nollywood. It has become an all-format affair where everybody and all sort of clowns, all sorts of characters fly in and there are no checks and balances. No regulatory body, we only have professional bodies and splinter groups that have been ethnicised; some are Yoruba Nollywood, some are Igbo/Delta Nollywood… This is sickening.
In every profession, there must be entry point requirements which is not the case in Nollywood. Everybody and anybody is a Nollywood player and it is worrisome.
Look at some of the Legends we have today, those who have paid heavy dues, and laid the foundation for what everybody is enjoying today, look at their relevance in today’s Nollywood… These people don’t get invited to work anymore, they’re rotting away, dying in penury, no security. For instance, legends like Olu Jacobs can’t go on location anymore because of his age and health but he’s lucky because he has Joke Silva, his wife. But because he has exposure and he and his wife are both enlightened, he’s still breathing, and we pray he lives long.
You and I know veterans that have gone; they died in penury, nothing to celebrate them with. Sadly, they laid the foundation of what we all are enjoying today. It gives me great concern too because I’m getting older and I pray I end it well. But the system is not encouraging, some will even tell you ‘the guy is too expensive’. Then they look for another person that probably looks well and dresses well, and that one wants to be popular at all costs, they give that person the role that is suitable for you, the experienced actor (they don’t give a damn if the person has a talent or not).
We have been working on those for close to twenty years. The government should encourage us; every profession has a regulatory body. Nollywood is a microscopic view of Nigeria, and I don’t know how we’ll unify everything and come under one umbrella, but it’s my wish.
In law, we have the NBA, an association where lawyers come together. Aside from this, there’s the Nigerian Judicial Council, which will check lawyers that are overbearing or flopping the ethics of the profession and their certificate can be revoked. Similarly, there’s NMA association for medical doctors, also an NMC, which ensures that a doctor’s certificate can be revoked if he/she is not doing right.
It is a shame that it is a different case in Nollywood. We don’t have a regulatory body; we cannot tell anyone that you can’t be a producer because you produce substandard jobs. It’s dangerous for the industry. Pretenders and funny-looking people have dominated the filmmaking sector. We don’t have an industry even though I hear people talk about the Industry. In my opinion, an industry is a setting that has structure, but we don’t have any structure, Nollywood is structureless but there’s something called Nollywood. We can’t say this is their headquarters.
When you talk of football, you know FIFA regulates it. In Nigeria, it is the NFF. You can see the headquarters. But you can’t point any of this to Nollywood.