A lot has been said about what it’s like to work with Nollywood’s box office queen, Funke Akindele. There have been accusations that she is too bossy, and that working with her is like hell. But there are also accounts that she is a total sweetheart and professional. Now, Omowunmi Dada who worked in Funke’s latest movie
Everybody Loves Jenifa is speaking about her own personal experience working with Funke. Here’s what Omowunmi had to say.
Speaking about Funke Akindele and her experience working with her, Omowunmi Dada said:
OMOWUNMI DADA: I would say that Funke Akindele is an enigma. She is an amazingly brilliant and creative person. She is so super creative. Sometimes, I see the things that she does and how, and the funny thing is she’s so blessed that ideas just drop and you’re like “how are these things just dropping in your head?”
So when I saw that she wanted to make “Everybody Loves Jenifa”, like everyone, I’m like what is there to also talk about Jenifa. I mean you’ve had like the series that has over 13 Seasons, you know. What do you want to do? But when I read the script, by the way, the script was so big, it was so humongous. This is very very different.
People will not expect the trajectory of the story, and the the beautiful thing is every day for her the beautiful thing is every day is a day to make it better. So that you read this scene in the script, you read it this way, in the morning she can just wake up and say, I think let us add 1 2 3 4 to make it spicier, to make it sweeter. And by the time she comes on set, and says “so you guys, I know that you have your lines, but please permit me. I’m going to tweak it this way” and you’re like hmmm, I like it, I like it this way. So one thing that does for us as actors is that it put us on our toes. That you have to immediately be able to create greatness within a short period of time.
And she is someone that takes good care of you. Welfare is always amazing. She would just say “oh my darling, how are you? Have you eaten? Do you like the food? Should my chef make it? Please ask Omowunmi whatever it is she wants, just give it to her.” And she’s not just doing that to me, she’s doing to everybody. I don’t know how she does it. It’s to everybody on set, she pays individual attention to your welfare, like how you’re feeling. Like she just wants to know that you are a 100, you cannot be hungry, you cannot be thirsty, no no no.
And one thing is she’s a genius. She has eyes in costume, has eyes in makeup, she has eyes in everything. She doesn’t leave any stone unturned. You cannot come out and costumier has given you one thing, she would even say costumier, make the scarf like this, make it like that. Most of the things, most of the things and the characters that they’ve built, even to hairstyle, they are like her ideas or she builds up on the ideas that the stylist have created.
She is just honestly really brilliant.
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