My Life In Nollywood: Wale Ojo

Every week, The Culture Custodian grants you an all-access backstage pass into the lives of Nollywood rock stars. You get to learn about their fascinating backgrounds, the behind-the-scenes stories, and more. This episode features actor and filmmaker, Wale Ojo. 

Wale Ojo bristles with energy. Around noon, the sexagenarian turns up on a Zoom call with me, dressed in a black tee shirt and relaxed on a sofa in a living-room-esque space. The walls are painted white, coalescing into a background that complements his warm disposition. His face spots his characteristic white beard and a pair of black-rimmed glasses. We segue from the initial niceties of introductions to the business of the day. You would expect someone with such vast lived experiences to have little tolerance for frivolity, so it doesn’t come off as surprising when he draws my attention to timing. Our conversation, however, is sprinkled with humor, with the British-Nigerian actor, a few times, mimicking a character in defense of artistic pliancy and switching to Yoruba in fleeting moments of proverbial pedagogy. He believes there is no finish line to the race for knowledge in acting, and emphasizes the need for actors to equally prioritize fitness.

With about four decades of his life dedicated to theatre, film, and television in Nigeria and abroad, Wale Ojo has made a case for his name in the history books. His cinematic legacy includes appearances in quintessential New Nollywood productions like Phone Swap (2012), Half Of A Yellow Sun (2013), Blood Sisters (2022) and Breath of Life (2023). In the Kunle Afolayan produced-and-directed Phone Swap, a piece of high comedy that marks a turning point from the slapstick common to Nollywood films of that time, Ojo embodies the lead role of an arrogant businessman who, through a chance airport meeting and collision with Mary, played by Nse Ikpe-Etim, loses his phone to an accidental swap and has his itinerary altered. In Half Of A Yellow Sun, a historical drama adapted from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel of the same title and based on real-life events of the Nigerian Civil War, Ojo stars alongside other actors of British and Nigerian origins, portraying the character of Chief Okonji, a friend to the Ozobias who has an unrequited amorous interest in their daughter Olanna. Blood Sisters, an EbonyLife project and the first Nigerian Netflix Original Series tells the story of two ladies on the run following their involvement in the death of the son of an elite family. The series reveals Ojo as Inspector Slo Jo Obasanjo, a pesky detective on the murder investigations. Breath of Life, which is considered “easily one of Nollywood’s best shots taken in the dying moments of year 2023”, fetched Ojo the Best Actor in A Lead Role prize at the 10th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA 2024) for his performance as a traumatized, disenchanted aging man, Timi Johnson, who looks past his grievances to embrace life and spiritual rebirth, after his encounter with a young preacher that becomes an adopted son of his.

A versatile creative and trans-generational talent, Ojo has also starred in a host of other Nollywood projects, including Head Gone (2014), When Love Happens (2014), Big Man (2012), Fifty (2015), 8 Bars & A Clef (2015), For The Wrong Reasons (2016), Entreat (2016), The CEO (2016), Happy Father’s Day (2016), Ojukokoro (2016), Betrayal (2016), Ayamma: Music in the Forest (2017), Alter Ego (2017), New Money (2018), Lara and the Beat (2018), Witness Box (2018), Jumbled (2019), Sales Girl (2019), Coming From Insanity (2019), Ordinary Fellows (2019), Kasanova (2019), Don’t Even Get Mad (2019—directed by himself), This Lady Called Life (2020), Loud: Live Out Ur Dream (2020), Silent Murder (2021), Songs of Ubong (2022), Love, Lust & Other Things (2023), A Young Time Ago (2023), A Song From The Dark (2024), The Man Died (2024) and A Ghetto Love Story (2024).

This conversation with Wale Ojo has been edited for clarity.

A couple of months ago, you celebrated your 60th birthday and, amazingly, you are still as fit as a fiddle. What has been the secret to your fitness?

There’s no secret except you respect the body and you look after it.

I read that you began acting as a child in Othello, an adaptation of Shakespeare, and then you had your breakout role in a British short film titled The Hard Case. Can you recall bits of those notable moments?

A lot of what people read about me online is wrong. I’ve always had a great relationship with Shakespeare, and Othello was a stage play I did at age 21. The short film, The Hard Case, was nearly thirty years ago. It is a Guy Ritchie film. I played a gambler and I was in the film with my friend who was also my flatmate. As it was more like a fun project, I didn’t get paid for it. The short film was expanded and went on to become Guy Ritchie’s breakout feature, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

How would you describe your distinctive qualities as an actor?

That’s a bit too self-obsessive for me. It’s the audience who would tell me what they see and like about me.

How do you approach your characters in films, including the specific preparations you make before playing them?

Honestly, I can only tell you the peripherals. I read widely, research, and observe people a lot and I approach every single role I play from the fact that the character has an organic life. I learn about the character as much as possible, and his history, and I speak to the writer about the nature of the character. I always try to go in-depth and give a three-dimensional side to a character. You know, our audiences are very sophisticated and like to see an actor in different characters. If you look at the movie I did with the late Sound Sultan, titled Head Gone, you would see that the character I played there is completely different from that of Breath of Life. One guy is in a mental asylum and talks to a cockroach, and the other guy is someone who has immersed himself in solitude, away from society. In Ojukokoro, I played a gun-wielding psychotic thief with brown teeth and crazy hair. It’s also different from the character I played in Foundation, which is a sci-fi series on Apple TV. Each character has a life of its own, and you know how this works when you go outside and people start to call you by that character instead of your real name.

I read that you moved with your family to London at age 11/12, which implies that you experienced life as a child in Nigeria and the UK. What was growing up like in Nigeria? Could you recall fond memories from your formative years in both countries?

I used to visit the University of Ibadan Arts Theater here in Nigeria. One of my mentors was Zulu Sofola who was one of Africa’s top female playwrights. I also used to work with the Ibadan players, the likes of Tunji Oyelana, Wole Soyinka, Femi Johnson, and Dapo Adelugba. That was such a long time ago, around the mid-sixties to early seventies, and I have a lot of memories of that theater. Then, I joined Western Nigerian Television (WNTV), Ibadan, which was another training ground for me when I delved into television. It was very difficult to pry me away from WNTV in those years. Whenever I was in Nigeria on holidays, I would always go back to WNTV and act in different dramas with different actors, from Sam Loco to Olumide Bakare and the rest. My years in London were cold for me, and I didn’t like the weather despite spending more years over there. My first major professional theatrical role came at the age of 21 when I played Shakespeare’s Othello in East London, and that was memorable for me.

You also had your university education at the University of Hull in England where you studied drama. How much impact did that educational experience have on your career as an actor?

I didn’t train to be an actor and never went to drama school. I studied the concept of drama at the University of Hull from 1983 to 1986, where I obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree. Over there, we studied different levels of drama such as Ibsen, Soyinka, Shakespeare, Fagunwa, Ola Rotimi. We studied all the concepts of drama intensely, from naturalistic to period drama, Yoruba, and Russian theaters. The same year I left Hull, I became a professional actor in England.

Let’s get back to your filmography. I know you have played numerous roles over the years of your experience as an actor. What role do you consider the most challenging Nollywood role you’ve undertaken.

I just finished doing Jagun Jagun Part 2 with Femi Adebayo in which I played a Yoruba character. That was challenging because I had to speak deep Yoruba, but it was a fantastic experience because I love the language. I had to bring my experience into that circle of Yoruba actors who were all way more experienced in Yoruba cinema than me. From that point on, it was fun. I had people around me, like Yinka Quadri, Ibrahim Chatta, even Pasuma the musician, and of course Femi Adebayo himself. It was a great learning curve for me to see how those actors worked on that film.

From your experience as an actor in both Nollywood and abroad, how would you compare both experiences?

Culturally, the way we approach things is different. Nigerians have a very laissez-faire attitude to doing things; whereas Hollywood and the Europeans have an over-organizational way of doing things, which can be sometimes annoying. I prefer the Nigerian style because it has more camaraderie and there’s more interaction on set. The way I would relate with a waka pass on a Nollywood set is not the same as I would be allowed to relate over there. On a Nollywood set, I could wait for two or three hours before we start shooting while we are all talking and laughing. But if I arrive ten minutes late on a Hollywood set, everyone would be worried and the producer would have started calling my agent. Everything is on time. Hollywood, however, makes better provisions for me. Whenever I’m working, they put me in a very nice hotel and a company car comes over to bring me to set.

How do you handle creative differences with directors, crew members, or fellow actors?

I welcome creative differences because they help to explore further. It would be extremely selfish to focus only on your own point of view without considering the other person. The beauty of art is that there’s no one way of doing things.

Can you recall a time when you had to approach such criticism of your craft a certain way?

I welcome criticisms a lot because they can only help one to improve. The wonderful thing about being an actor is that I keep learning about my craft. There are so many spectrums and I try as much as possible to imbibe all of that with mood, accent, physicality, and so on. I just returned about a week ago from Cameroon where I acted the role of a gentleman with dementia who seemed to be normal.

You have a great deal of admiration for one of Africa’s foremost playwrights and Nobel prize winner, Wole Soyinka. You recently portrayed his character in The Man Died, which is an adaptation of his memoir of the same title. To what length did you go in preparing for that character?

It’s the same way I approach all my characters. This one was especially an honor because it’s Soyinka and I’ve had an association with him for over twenty years. The Man Died is a seminal work, an intrinsic part of our cultural memory. That is also one of the most challenging roles I’ve ever played. I played him as a 35-year-old man who was in prison and then went all the way to Biafra to stop the Civil War with Ojukwu. The role required a lot of reading, and I spoke to Prof too. It was tough but really rewarding. The team that put the project together, especially Femi Odugbemi’s Zuri24 Media and director Awam Ampka, was a fantastic one. The cast, which included Sam Dede, and other names I can’t recall now were incredible as well.

There is a video clip of you singing on your birthday. Did you ever sing professionally back in the day before you became an actor? Or do you just do that for fun?

When I was in university, I tried to train my voice to sing. This was because I had realized that even as an actor, it was important to learn how to sing. I could end up in a role in a musical in the West End or on Broadway, which would require me to sing. And you know, there are different levels of singing. I’m a low baritone singer, and Broadway level is higher than my level. My voice is nowhere near perfect, and I’m still training it in that way. I also love music so much that I have a ten-piece Afrobeats band and a movie that’s all about music. For me, music and acting are intertwined.

What other creative interests or pursuits do you have besides acting and signing?

I try to write, I swim, ride horses, run, and go to the gym. In general, I do my best to stay as physical as possible. That’s why I tell my producers not to cast me in roles as father or uncle. I prefer action roles because they are physically demanding.

How do you balance your personal life with your professional life as an actor?

Sometimes, I bring my family and kids around or I go to visit them. I can’t work all the time because that would be selfish of me. I have to take some time out with my other half; and luckily for me, I am in a business where I don’t have to go to work 9-5 every day.

As an industry stakeholder, what can you do to improve the professionalism and the quality of productions value in Nollywood?

There’s a lot. It all boils down to the fact that at the end of the day, as a producer, you have to keep your cast and crew very comfortable. Money is always an issue in the industry, but things are improving. We as professionals also have to be thorough with our crew, ensuring they undergo proper training.

On your Instagram, there is a post of your latest project, This Is Not A Nollywood Movie, directed by you. What should we expect?

The movie should be out next year. It’s an action comedy, and it features me, Brodda Shaggi, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Bimbo Akintola, Olumide Oworu, and a fantastic comeback by the great actor Hanks Anuku. We also have Shatta Bandle from Ghana, and some newcomers as well.

On a final note, what would be your advice for aspiring creatives out there, particularly actors, who are hoping to get into Nollywood?

They have to because Nollywood will be a bigger and more powerful industry. Whenever I move around and speak to people from all walks of life, they all say they want more genuine stories. As such, we need to develop our industry the way Bollywood has done theirs and become equally self-reliant. We need private investors who believe in the industry and can push it forward. So, my advice for whoever wants to get into the industry is to take time and do some training in acting and go for workshops on directing, production design, etc. They can go to KAP to intern as a DOP, and Anthill Studios to learn VFX. They can come to our own production company, New Nigerian Cinema Studios at Tafawa Balewa Square, and learn different aspects of production such as VFX, animation, acting, compositing, and even music.