Rita Odafe
Omoni Oboli
Nigerian actress and filmmaker Omoni Oboli recently shared insights regarding the challenges she faced at the beginning of her career.
She disclosed that she often exchanged her scripts for acting roles.
This revelation took place during an interview with Radionow FM, where she discussed her motivation to move from acting to directing.
Omoni stated that after seeing her work on screen, she found it did not match her original vision, which fueled her desire to direct her own films.
“I used to trade my scripts for roles, saying, don’t pay me, just let me act in your movie,” she expressed.
“However, after viewing the films, I noticed they were different from how I envisioned them while writing since I visualize my scripts. Each viewing revealed discrepancies from my mental picture.”
“This doesn’t imply they were poorly made as different directors bring unique styles to the same script. I realized if I wanted my stories to resonate with my essence, I needed to direct them myself,” she continued.
“I was apprehensive but thought, what do I have to lose? If they can do it, so can I. I decided to pursue this path.”
“I began observing directors closely while acting. Furthermore, I considered gaining formal training in direction. Therefore, I enrolled in a short course at the New York Film Academy,” she concluded.
