Durotimi Okutagidi Is Taking Steady Artistic Steps 

When you speak with Durotimi Okutagidi, his voice exudes a quiet confidence, reflective of an artist content with honing his craft at his own pace, unswayed by the desperation for stardom. From the outset, his personality is approachable, and when he shares, several minutes into the conversation, that he’s not driven by the glamour of the industry—dismissing cameras and paparazzi as mere “by-products”—it feels authentic. For Okutagidi, art is about lending his body and voice to tell the authentic stories of people’s lives.

Born on September 26, 1999, in Shomolu, Lagos, Okutagidi grew up a shy, introspective child, immersing himself in action, sci-fi, and animated movies alongside his uncle and a brother a decade his senior. The James Bond franchise profoundly shaped his childhood, with actors Roger Moore and Sean Connery becoming early inspirations. His other idols are Morgan Freeman whose charisma he admired as a child, Christian Bale from whom he learns to approach every character with a unique transformative appearance, and Denzel Washington. His mother, an actor who balanced acting with a banking career, further influenced him. Accompanying her to production sets, he realized how effortlessly she wore an infectious ebullience among colleagues. Though he was too timid to perform in front of cameras at the time, these early contacts with the storytelling world prepared him for his creative journey. With time, he found himself enacting scenarios and characters in his mind and telling short stories.

Okutagidi’s path wasn’t always rooted in the arts. He attended Christ The Redeemer Secondary School in Gbagada for his junior secondary education and later Federal Science and Technical College, Yaba, for senior secondary school where he received early formal scientific training. He then pursued Fisheries And Aquaculture Technology at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), graduating in 2023. By then, he was already fascinated with natural elements like space and animals, which often left him torn between his allegiances to the arts and sciences, creating an initial struggle to choose a definitive path.

As a freshman on university campus, Okutagidi saw stage plays that increased his appetite for the world of make-believe, and soon joined a small theatre group in the church he attended. He realized his taciturn personality did not stop him from being expressive and exploring his character whenever he had to do so on stage. By 2019, he started paying close attention to the components and technical details of captivating stories, moving beyond watching them solely for entertainment, and turned to YouTube for insights on acting. Studying in Ondo State, however, meant missing out on auditions and acting opportunities in Lagos, the epicenter of Nigeria’s film industry. “Most people wouldn’t cast you because you’re not in Lagos, so there was a lot of ‘I’ll get back to you,’” he recalls. Undeterred, he collaborated with like-minded friends in Akure, participating in stage adaptations of Wole Soyinka’s Death and The King’s Horseman and Ola Rotimi’s The Gods Are Not to Blame, and rehearsing with the Ondo State troupe. While acknowledging the intense demands of stage acting, such as long rehearsal hours and the physical intensity, Okutagidi remains committed to both local theatre and mainstream cinema.

In early 2024, Okutagidi attended EbonyLife Creative Academy where he learnt to break down scripts, analyze and vocalize characters, and ask proper questions to embody roles. Striking a meaningful relationship with the head of film school and acting coach enabled him to open up about his timidity. He emerged from the programme as Best Male Lead Actor, a validation  that assuaged his doubts. Shortly after film school, upon recommendation, he met and worked with producer Wingonia Ikpi for the first time on Son Of The Soil. Impressed by his performance, the producer proposed a management deal with him, leading to Okutagidi signing with the Ikpi-led Boxonia Blueprint in July 2024. This partnership has been impactful, helping him rebrand and push his creative boundaries. Boxonia Blueprint is home to other talents such as Taye Arimoro, Chuks Joseph, and Chinaza Ezeani.

When preparing for a role, Okutagidi approaches his character as an advocate and refrains from judging them. As a ritual , he immerses himself in the character through multiple readings to identify the character’s goals, obstacles, actions, physical traits and nuances. All these he does while also maintaining constant communication with the director for a mutual agreement on what they want him to make of his character. For reference, he recalls working on The Lost Days, a newly released Prime Video film directed by Wingonia Ikpi and produced by Steve Gukas, Dotun Olakunri and Chioma Ezeani. The Lost Days is a family drama about Chisom, a wealthy woman recovering from cancer who returns home to reunite with an ex-lover and long-abandoned son, only to awaken unresolved tensions. Exploring themes of family, forgiveness and redemption, the film stars Bimbo Manuel, theatre director and screen acting debutant Ifeoma Fafunwa, budding talent Cynthia Clarke, and Baaj Adebule with whom Okutagidi shares real-life family ties. Here he portrays the character of Kola, the cantankerous son of Baba Kola, who conspires with his older brother Moses to kidnap Chisom, a visiting mother on the quest for closure and redemption. Kola is rash, headstrong and prone to vices like smoking and hooliganism, but he eventually comes off as pitiable and humane. During production, Okutagidi had a conversation with Ikpi about endowing Kola with eccentricities in body language and eventually came up with a unique walking style for the character in addition to having the actor’s hair braided for apt physical transformation.

Okutagidi’s scientific background also enriches his worldview, contributing to his burgeoning eclectic, multi-layered artistic journey. Beyond acting—his primary focus—he writes, directs, and does voice-over work. He has directed two short films: Liberal Nation, a story that is set against the backdrop of Nigeria’s political reality, and Ile Ayo, a faith-based musical which he co-directed with a friend. He served as a voice actor, body double and assistant director on Landline, a 2025 time-loop psychological drama produced and directed by Dele Doherty, a filmmaker with whom he has a relationship dating back to  2020 when Okutagidi recorded his first professional monologue that was entered for the King of Boys challenge. Landline, which is Okutagidi’s biggest project so far, stars Gabriel Afolayan and Zainab Balogun as lovers in a story about a military officer who must save his wife from being assassinated. Concerning the production of Landline, Okutagidi recalls working with Doherty on a modest budget, and, a few times, having to “take over” and “take charge” so that his best friend could focus solely on directing.

Outside of film, Okutagidi loves football, though he has not played recently. He is passionate about Conservation, a marine biology field focused on protecting and managing natural resources like ecosystems, habitats, and water for the benefit of society. He plans to use film to emphasize and promote the importance of conservation to national existence, aligning with his love for unique stories addressing societal issues, particularly those affecting specific demographics daily. His dream roles include being a neighbourhood friendly villain and being an action hero in the form of a soldier, an undercover agent or police officer. A character that particularly strikes him is the DC Comics Universe Joker, whose unpredictable, sinister and cunning nature he wishes to relive in a typical Nollywood film. But while nursing glossy ambitions, Okutagidi remains proactive. His recent and upcoming projects include Dear Future Me, currently airing on Africa Magic Showcase, Son of the Soil, slated for release later in 2025, Clairvoyant Dorcas, aimed at festival circuits, and Dear Lagos Men, a YouTube series with an unconfirmed premiere date. “In the next five years, I have a list of people I would love to work with,” he says brimming with optimism. “I see myself having fulfilled that list.”