Legendary Nollywood actress, Ireti Doyle has revealed how a colleague’s role she took over years back shot her to stardom.
The actress who has been acting for the past 25 years, stated that the first lead role she played in the movie, Dilemma, was for another actress who didn’t show up.
She wrote:
“I had been referred to this producer by a senior colleague. I read for a minor part and got the role.A few days prior to shoot, I was called in for a table read. For whatever reason (you call it luck, I call it grace) the girl who had been cast in the lead did not turn up and I was asked to stand in for her. Half way through the the read, the producer looked up and said ” o boy, e like say na dis girl go play this character o!”.And that; is how I got cast in my first lead role in a Nollywood film. Name of movie: “Dilemma” Produced & Directed by Theophilus Akatugba that year.Moral of the story: “Opportunity” can present itself at anytime; question is ….are you ready?As a run up to my IG live session tomorrow, I’ll be sharing some of my experiences with auditions and getting the roles that I have, in the course my career to help give context to some of the things I’ll be sharing. Can’t believe it’s been 25 years… a quarter of a century….sheesh!!Remember its tomorrow on IG live at 4-5PM#MasterTheCraft#BirthdayLoading,”she captioned.
In a recent interview, Ireti who is now a proud grandmother spoke on the real reasons she joined Nollywood.
“Acting is something is wanted to do for a long time. It came to me naturally. I don’t know how it did, but I just found out that if there was a performance to be done in secondary school I was always involved in it and if anyone was to be called to speak it was me. I think Checkmate was the first Nigerian TV series I fell in love with. I used to hurry back home to watch it. Then there was Mind Bending, a TV series produced by Lola Fani Kayode and it starred Joke Silva at the time. There was a particular scene where Aunty J took me through an emotional journey. I looked on so steadily at her as she tugged at all my emotions. After that scene, I knew that was what I wanted to do. It may sound weird, but it was a light ball moment for me.”
