Onyinye Odokoro is Still Nursing Nollywood Patients Through Her Performances

Onyinye Odokoro is undoubtedly one of the thriving actors of her generation. Within a decade of working in the Nigerian film industry, the book-loving actress has carefully made a mark in the film industry, created an admirable bond with the numerous characters she has portrayed, and won the admiration of many Nollywood enthusiasts. For all these to come together, the actor had, like all great actors, devoted herself to decades-long conscious and subconscious training. This training, as she will reveal during a call, started at age 13 when she began acting in numerous church dramas. Now, Odokoro is the lead of the EbonyLife Original series, Baby Farm, which started streaming on Netflix last month. 

Odokoro’s early performance in her primary and secondary school plays isn’t an exclusive case as a sizable number of Nigerian actors like Chimezie Imo, Kunle Afolayan, Uchenna Williams, Denrele Edun, Genevieve Nnaji, and others began acting at an early age. What is interesting about Odokoro’s story is how, decades later, she can still vividly recall the surrounding emotions that welcomed her first performance as a Junior Secondary School Student during one of the social and cultural nights. One of the unwritten rules at the Catholic school Odokoro attended was that stage plays had to be religious leaning. As a result, the plots often revolved around dramatic clashes between the children of God and the Devil. In Odokoro’s first performance, she played an occultic role. Describing the character’s costume, she vividly remembers the black and red costume, the frightening calabash emitting fire, and the juju-esque props adorning the costume. All she had to do was walk amidst the audience, comprising students and teachers, accompanied by an eerie keyboard sound and she became a “celebrity”. “I’m having goosebumps remembering that day. After the drama, my classmates and juniors, at that time, were in awe of me,” she recounts with palpable relish in her voice. Listening to her recount the experience, one can imagine the fright and tension that must have enveloped the audience who are seeing her in this supposedly scary but new light. 

The celebrity-esque attention she received during this period aside, it was at this moment that the thought of being an actor subconsciously trickled into her mind. This subconscious decision and instincts would guide her choice of extra-curricular activities. As a science student at the  Federal Government College Anambra, young Odokoro could only be found within the safe and fun-filled dramatic club. Even when, as she admits, she is struggling to keep up with the demands of Physics, Chemistry, and other science-stipulated subjects. University was no different. She had mixed feelings when she got admitted to study Nursing. Odokoro was, as most Nigerians would be, excited about studying a professional course that promised job security upon graduation. But her creative self wasn’t satisfied. In her second year, she experienced what she describes as a “light bulb moment” to pursue acting upon graduating.  “As a very spontaneous and impulsive person, I almost quit school then. But, then, I prayed about it one night. The next morning, I had this strange peace about going to classes. I took it to mean that I was where I’m supposed to be;  it’s all according to God’s plan,” she recounts in a reflective tone. 

Following God’s guidance, Odokoro navigated the challenging courses, lengthy classes, and mentally and physically demanding school work. At this point, she had made peace with herself. While she listlessly attended classes and did school-related work with numbed enthusiasm, there were aspects of being a nursing student she enjoyed. “My favorite course was psychology and other human behavior courses. I am an actor, and there’s no wonder I love psychology. Also, I loved the experience of being in the hospital, not exactly because of the work that we do, but the fulfillment that comes from nursing a sick person and making them whole,” she narrates. During her university years, she accommodated and fed her artistic self by being part of her church’s drama unit. This was where she met Jack’enneth Opukeme, for whom she has unreserved admiration. As a church drama unit, she recounts working with Opukekme, who was a theatre art student at the time, fleshing out quality theater productions. In her words, “We were rehearsing and producing quality, not mediocre productions. We did all that was expected of theater art students even if the production was for church.” 

Odokoro graduated in 2021 from the University of Calabar (UNICAL) with a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing. Although she isn’t pursuing Nursing, Odokoro is still caring for and nursing Nigerians. This, she’s doing through acting and storytelling.  She is drawn to the mental and psychological well-being of her patients (audiences), and she has stepped into this responsibility with enduring grace and ease. The films in her filmography indicate this. 

“I agree that acting and filmmaking generally is about caring. But what we do as filmmakers and through film is that we also care by pointing public attention to certain harmful practices. By bringing awareness to these issues and harmful particles that are happening, we can find a way to find ready-made solutions.” Odokoro says. Beyond providing entertainment, she believes that films and TV series, like Baby Farm, are important to addressing societal issues. “People are watching Baby Farm and having conversations about child trafficking and women exploitation. These conversations, which sensitize viewers and people previously unaware of baby farming practices, is the whole point of what we do.”

The early stages of Odokoro’s preparation as an actor, from primary through university years, were within the confines of a church setting and, more importantly, were stage performances. Odokoro’s first set experience was in 2018, and she recalls being extremely nervous and visibly shaking during the experience. Coming from a theater background, she thought she just had to wear her costume and perform her lines, as obtainable in theatre. She did just this, and the director graciously corrected her. From that first set experience, Odokoro has gone on to grace numerous sets with her unforgettable acting.

From Dika Ofoma’s A Japa Tale, Ofoma’s God’s Wife, her second actor-director relationship with the director screened at the 2024 S16 Film Festival, Ifeoma Nkiruka Chukwuogo’s Phoenix Fury, which screened and won top prizes at the 2024 African International Film Festival (AFRIFF), Princess on a Hill, available on Showmax, to Kayode Kasum and Walter Taylour’s Baby Farm, which has tepidly inspired conversation about child trafficking and women exploitation, Odokoro has found a way to embrace the interiority of her characters. Courtesy of Odokoro’s performances, the characters’ told and untold stories fascinate viewers to the point of obsession. They remember the measured movement, restrained frustration, opposition, and vocal expression. 

Collaboration is one of the important hallmarks of a film production, and the actress has enjoyed the fortune of working with filmmakers who respect and encourage her opinions. That collaborative spirit guided the making of Baby Farm and other films she had previously worked on. She talks about having character sessions with Chukwuogo, Ofoma, Taylour, Kasum, and other directors she’s worked with and how mutually beneficial the experience was. These conversations, she hints, further shaped and reshaped the direction of the projects and her performances. “Filmmaking is a collaborative process. Directors need me, as an actress, to believe in the character I’m playing,” she says. 

As an actress, Odokoro has had the pleasure of working on some women-facing stories. Although she has limited control on the kind of character she plays, as she tells me, she has had the pleasure of working on projects that beam light on the plight of the average Nigerian and center the human experience. When asked what these women-leaning stories mean for her as a Nigerian woman and actress, she took a few seconds to gather her thoughts. “We’ve already talked about acting being a form of caring for people. So, with the characters I play, I want to extend that care with the stories and characters I play.” She deepens her explanation using Ofoma’s God’s Wife and Taylour and Kasum’s Baby Farm. “God’s Wife advocates against harmful widowhood practices while Baby Farm talks about the existence of baby factories. By watching these films, viewers can have a change of heart about these harmful practices,” she concludes. 

Each actor has their own acting and character immersion process. For Odokoro, the process exists in two phases. The fundamental and foundational stage where she says the heaviest work lies in meeting the character. Acting, she states, quoting Sanford Meisner, the American actor and acting teacher, is living truthfully under imaginary circumstances. To achieve this in her performances, she asks pertinent and prominent questions hinged on these words: why and what. “What does Adanna want the most?” and “Why does she love something the most?” Her interest in human psychology further helps the character assimilation process. “As actors, what I believe we do is to put ourselves in the figurative shoes of our characters, empathise and understand them,” she says in a lecture-incline voice. The secondary aspect of her process is understanding the characters’ social backgrounds. For this, she asks these questions: “What’s the character’s social background?” “What’s her language fluency?” “Does she speak like me?”, and “what is her personality and where does she come from?” For Baby Farm, she lost some weight due to the circumstances of the story. “I didn’t lose weight for the fun of it. I did that to show the physical emaciation of the character. That made me get into the character and get into Adanna’s headspace,” she says. 

Nollywood is known for its lightning speed and limited production time. This has resulted in mostly plot-ridden scripts, soulless acting, and unenjoyable films. As gloomy as this situation is, Nollywood filmmakers, in the typical Nigerian spirit, still keep pushing. Knowing that Odokoro prepared for months for Adanna, there is some curiosity about how limited shooting time affects an actor’s performance. The actress started by acknowledging the work done by Nollywood filmmakers despite the financial and structural hurdles stacked against them. She followed this by mentioning the effect on actors and the industry at large. One of it is that it limits filmmakers’ interest in telling stories that require lengthy preparation and actors’ physical transformation. “It’s true that we have productions that are rushed and somewhere actors have limited time to learn and embody their characters. But, I will say we are doing the best we can and there is room to improve,” she says. 

In 2024, while in an audition room with Demi Banwo waiting their turn, they entered a spirited conversation that birthed Running Lines, which she describes as her legacy project. Years ago, as a budding actor, Odokoro’s relentless search for acting materials and videos led her to Variety’s Actors on Actors conversation and The Hollywood Reporter’s Actors’ Roundtable. Despite the universal concern, themes, and subject matters these Hollywood actors discussed, she noticed a missing element: the peculiarity and nuances of being a Nigerian actor. To fill this gap, Odokoro conceived Running Lines with Banwo. Directed by Banwo, with production credits to Working Talent Agency and Depths & Optics Productions, the unscripted show has featured Teniola Aladese, Efa Iwara, Jammal Ibrahim, Jemima Osunde, Mike Afolarin and other Nollywood actors. What does the future hold for Running Lines? “We hope to make it more elaborate to feature Actors on Film Journalist, Actors on Directors, Actors on Producers, Actors on Investors, and many more of such conversations,” she says.   

Stage performances, for Odokoro, aren’t a rite of passage to film and TV acting. “The reason why I’m not doing stage work, for now, is because I haven’t been called for a role. Also, there is the issue of pay and physical demands that stage performance requires.” As an actor, her work, either in film and TV or on stage, hinged on being called by a director or producer. But, she’s open to exploring all mediums of performances from stage, film, to voice acting. I want to do everything, as long as I perform. The medium counts less.”

All through this conversation, Odokoro, though en route to a location in Lagos, graciously and comprehensively responded to every question, spicing her answers with anecdotes when needed. Seconds spilled into minutes and eventually, an hour.  To end this conversation, Odokoro answers an unexpected question: What does she want to be remembered for in the next decades? 

“I want to be remembered as a human being, as a kind person, that I stood up for people when the need arose, advocated for the right things, and helped build Nigeria and Nollywood as an industry. In my work, I want to be one of the great actors of my generation.”