Lateef Adedimeji: Nigerian creatives are good story tellers | The Guardian Nigeria News

Lateef Adedimeji is an actor and filmmaker. A native of Abeokuta, Ogun State, he is a graduate of Mass Communication from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye. Adedimeji’s acting career started in 2007 and he has since featured in over 100 movies. Best known for his roles in Ayinla, Soole, Breaded Life, Progressive Tailors Club, King of Thieves, Order of Things, Strangers, Different Strokes, Last Man Standing, and most recently JagunJagun, which is currently streaming on Netflix, he speaks about his acting career in this interview with IJEOMA THOMAS-ODIA.

You are one of the actors who have crisscrossed the indigenous and English movies. How are you able to blend?
What is basic is the discipline, strength and focus you put into the job, and if you look at the Yoruba angle all of the time, the drilling is a very crazy one. Taking that learning process into the other world is a very good one; when you get into the other world, you see more discipline. So, putting the two together, it is just right for you to give it your best, all of your time.

I also don’t see a reason anybody cannot blend. What’s important is that you need to put a lot of energy into what you do and then you need to be very versatile; you don’t need to be a stereotype kind of person. And for me, I make sure nothing passes me by; everything or humans I meet daily, I make sure that I pick something from. That way, if given any role, I just need to take a flashback to whoever has made that kind of character throw away Lateef, and get into that role.

You play humor so well; is there anything in your growing up that influenced this?
It’s just basically learning. I think I have a bit of it inside of me, and then learning from a whole lot of people and watching a whole lot of comedians. At first, nobody saw me as a comic actor; everybody said he always plays a serious or mumu kind of role. At a point in time when that emotional role kept coming, I needed to make people understand the fact that I’ve got this inside of me already as well. So, I had to switch at some point and turned down emotional roles and picked up comedy roles so that people could see that part of me too. All is balanced now and you can call me on anyone and ask me to fit into it.

Yoruba movies seem to be your strength. How did it start?
I think it was where I found myself first. If I had found myself in the English world, it would have been the same. While growing up, getting training in dance and acting with those in the Yoruba movie industry was where it all started. So basically, I do not have a choice but to pick up from where I know a whole lot of people, and then eventually grow up into what I am today.

How have you evolved over the years?
I think I’m better by the day because we grow every day civilization is still ongoing and upgrade is still ongoing daily from 2D technology to 3D, 4D, and now 5D technology. You just have to follow the trend to stay relevant; you need to be active, know what is going on, and make sure you lift and match up to what’s going on. That way, you keep being relevant to the situation as it goes on.

How would you describe your role in the epic movie ‘JagunJagun’?
The role I played in JagunJagun is one that stretched me beyond my comfort zone and I can’t but thank my big brother, Femi Adebayo, for seeing me as that personality that can do justice to that character, knowing full well it’s not my kind of role. I thank God I was able to go the extra length to put life into that character. Like I always say, I am not a stereotyped actor and that’s the reason you can see me switch roles at any given time. My role was a big deal in that movie and I gave my all. When I was watching it during the screening, I couldn’t believe it was me doing that. In one word, my role was demanding and fantastic.

Share with us your take on the collaborations between the creative industry and Netflix.
For me, it’s good collaboration in the right direction. Nigerian creatives are good storytellers and a platform like Netflix, further shows that our content is going global. The platforms have given opportunities to storytellers to come up with great materials and they will give them the global push they deserve.

If not acting, what career path would you have taken?
I always wanted to be a lawyer but I did a lot of silly things and people laughed. So, it was when I joined a non-governmental organization that I found out that acting is my line.

What do you consider a major challenge in the industry?
The major challenge is that we don’t think outside the box. We need to challenge ourselves; we don’t need to limit ourselves and then think that the minute fame comes, we don’t need to improve again. As a matter of fact, the more the fame, the more we need a lot of improvement so that the fame can match up. It’s just a lot of work for actors.

As the fame grows, the expectations get high, then you have to match up to that high expectation so that there can be balance.

Have you had to reject scripts?
Yes, recently I turned down a lot of scripts because I felt like they did not convey a good or genuine message. I’ve realized we don’t act in movies for the sake of it. We need to be deliberate about the message we want to get across to people. Everybody wants to be an actor or a star, but the profession is beyond you just going to be there. You have to merge the talent with the right things so that you can have it well-nurtured and well-tuned.