Nollywood has gone through a lot of phases and has seen a bunch of stars arise from different generations. Names like Ramsey Nouah and Richard Mofe-Damijo rose to fame in the early 2000s while names like Deyemi Okanlawon and Kunle Remi found their own fame in a different generation later on. All these stars mentioned are still working actors, and now Kunle Remi is speaking, especially to newbies, about the art of not arriving before one’s time citing RMD and Ramsey Nouah as examples and explaining why he never wanted to be them. Here’s what Kunle Remi had to say.
Speaking during an interview about how his looks and appearance have affected his career, as well as speaking on a big mistake new actors make trying to arrive before their time and citing Ramsey Nouah and RMD in relation to himself as examples, Kunle Remi said:
KUNLE REMI: Yes, my looks and appearance helped me at the end of the day. One of my colleagues once said that he wished he was fine like me, but I said ‘no that’s not the point.’ There are so many handsome people that are not actors, while there are people that you will not consider as handsome that are super talented.
It is way beyond good looks. I was fighting with the fact that I was not just getting roles because of my looks and not the fact that I can portray them well. Let the looks just be an added advantage.
I’m ready to go hideous. One of the happiest moments of my life was when Kunle Afolayan said he was going to shave my beards and I would have tribal marks, I was still fine. It’s a gift and I embrace it, but I still want to do more without people getting distracted by my looks. People don’t want to take risks. In American films they can use make up to make you look hideous or have a certain look.
[A mistake newbies make is] arriving before they arrive. Even before I started negotiating higher and asking for more money, I was true to myself and I checked where I was. I didn’t think less of myself but I didn’t arrive before I arrived. You want to be a superstar and you haven’t gone through the process. I can’t say I want to be Ramsey Nouah because I never wanted to be him.
I wanted to grow to a stage where I could have a conversation with him and I’ve got there. I’m not RMD but I’m still learning from them. Most newbies want the finer things on the other side really quick, but it’s a process. The most important thing is to focus on growing and understanding yourself and learning. It will get to a point where you will get there by yourself, you will see the shift and embrace it.