Nigerian actor, Richard Mofe-Damijo, better known as RMD, has spoken on the importance of self-disciplined at one’s job, and how punctuality was the key thing that got him a role in Professor Wole Soyinya’s play.
Recounting his encounter with the respected Nobel laureate, the former Delta State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism noted that those qualities got him a role in a play by Prof Wole Soyinka.
“I used to be in a play Prof Wole Soyinka put together. Whenever Soyinka came to Lagos in those days, I was the only man that could enter his house. I was like his boy. My late wife was also the only woman that could visit his present wife,” he said.
Opportunity met RMD’s Preparation
Further speaking, RMD said,“There was a time I heard that he wanted to put a play together, so I told his wife and she in turn told him. But the professor said to his wife, ‘Richard is spoilt. Television has spoilt him. I don’t think he can still act on stage’”.
However, when I met him, I told him that television hasn’t spoilt him. He then asked me again if I was sure I could still act on stage. He told me to come to Abeokuta to see him at 4pm. I was shocked.
“Anyway, on the said day, I left Lagos around 12pm and got to Abeokuta at about 2pm. When he came out of his office before the agreed time, he saw me and greeted me. When it was 4pm, I went into his office and we had the audition. Later, he told me the first thing that impressed him about me was the time I showed up. That is what discipline does for one.”
The actor also noted all he is enjoying today is as a result of the sacrifices he made in the past.
On what has been keeping him in the success path
He added, “If I host a show and make N5m in one hour, it’s acting that made it possible. It is acting that gives me access to several people. I wouldn’t have been a commissioner for seven years and special adviser for one year if they didn’t know RMD. What I am enjoying today is the equity I have built over the years, all culminating into this guy called RMD.”
Advising young actors to learn how to manage themselves, he said, “Talent is good but managing oneself is one of the strongest keys to being in this business. If you cannot manage yourself, nobody can manage you. You need to have certain things in your personality that calls you to order from time to time.”
