Acting is a profession that comes with physical and mental demands, which include studying and interpreting the writer’s script, memorizing lines, attending auditions, and showing up for rehearsals and performances where and when necessary. In film, there are additional expectations for the actor, which may include getting involved in promotional content, honoring media interviews and press conferences, and gracing film premieres. With talent being the constant factor, the film industry has roles for all kinds of actors regardless of age, gender, and orientation. Intentionally or inadvertently, a child actor will be exposed to a similar work culture, lifestyle, and toxic environment as the adult counterpart. In Nollywood, Nigeria’s multi-million dollar film industry, where practitioners still suffer from a general structural deficit, the challenges of a child actor become more pronounced.
As the term implies, the Nollywood child actor is an underaged performer in the Nigerian film and television industry. Article 1 of the United Nations Convention On The Rights of the Child describes a child as “any person under the age of 18”. Usually, child actors in Nollywood are accorded roles that are tailored to meet their age and experiences. Their roles are instrumental to telling certain stories and particularly achieving verisimilitude in narratives that revolve around family drama, high school or education, coming-of-age, and child fantasy themes. Aniukwu, in his journal article Nollywood and Generic Reading: Sampling Public Opinion on Nigeria Children’s Films, uses the term “children films” to describe a category of cinema that spotlight child actors and may interrogate issues like obedience/disobedience, spiritual or demonic possession, stubbornness, greed, and responsibility, among others. Because children are likely to display instinctive behaviour, child actors can portray their characters in ways that feel natural and can evoke feelings of sympathy and love from the audience with minimal effort. Most Nollywood child actors appear alongside adults in secondary or minor roles—such as in Ola Cardoso’s Suky where Malik Sanni plays the younger version of the eponymous character; Ramsey Nouah’s Tokunbo where Darasimi Nadi is Nike, an abducted government official’s daughter; and Funke Akindele’s Finding Me where Fiyinfoluwa Asenuga portrays Denrele, the adopted child of the Phillips. Nonetheless, we have Nollywood films in which child actors star in lead roles. Examples are Niyi Akinmolayan’s Mikolo, which has Pamilerin Ayodeji and Fiyinfoluwa Asenuga, and Yemi Morafa’s Aburo, which has Maleek Sanni, one of the Ikorodu Bois ensemble, as the eponymous protagonist.
Let’s not also forget that these kids are breaking boundaries and making their mark in the international scene. Actor-comedienne Emmanuella, who started featuring in Mark Angel Comedy skits at age 5, won the Favourite African Media Star category at Nickelodeon’s 2021 Kids’ Choice Awards. Simisola Gbadamosi secured the lead voice role in the Disney and Kugali Media collaborative animation film, Iwaju, released last year, and recently became the youngest Nigerian Emmy nominee for her performance in the film. Pamilerin Adegoke starred in Lizard, the first Nigerian short film to win at the Sundance—bagging the Grand Jury Prize at the 2021 edition of the festival. She won the Best Young Talent accolade at the African Film Festival in Texas, USA. Other child actors making waves in Nollywood today are Fawaz Aina (Ijogbon, Anikulapo), Kosisochukwu Samuel Ogboruche (Kill Boro, Strain), Toluwanimi Olaoye (A Chain Reaction, Your Excellency), Diana Egwuatu (God Calling, Her Dark Past), Emerald Nwani (Lemons and Lemonade, Kidnapped, Unrepentant), Beloved Osagie (A Father’s Love, Kill Boro), Heavenly Dera Osadebe (Two Peas, Between Two Hearts, Love Deposit) and Pearl Shim-Mugalla (Little Daniella, Finding Hope).
Beyond the sheen and gloss, Nollywood child actors face challenges that affect their physical and mental well-being, education, and future career. In an industry where professionals work for long hours under tight schedules with little or no regard for admissible standard procedures, child actors can experience exhaustion and irritability and are prone to physical and psychological breakdown. We have an instance of this from a 2016 Punch interview with Emmanuella, where she briefly recounts falling deeply asleep at a show she was supposed to perform in. Poor work environments and cultures will equally have adverse effects on child actors the same way—or even more than—they do on adults.
“Working with child actors requires you to bring yourself to their level, which involves playing and bonding with them,” says cinematographer and filmmaker John Chizoba Vincent. He has worked with at least five famous child actors and considers time management a major concern when dealing with them. “To shoot with a child actor, you need to exercise a lot of patience. They can get upset over little things, and you need to give them time. You might end up spending an hour or two on a scene that is supposed to take about five minutes. But you must also try not to get angry if you want to get the best out of them.” Vincent recalls an incident while filming a domestic conflict scene with a 10-year-old child actress. The scene involved a father yelling at his daughter, which caused the child actor to become distraught and leave the set. The girl hid in the backyard of the building, where she broke down in tears. When the crew discovered her, she fled for the toilet and locked herself in there. After failed attempts at placating her, they invited her mother, who told the crew that the girl usually became distressed whenever she was being shouted at. Still, it took over an hour, coupled with the help of her mother, to appease the girl and make her open the door. Even so, the girl didn’t want to continue acting, but she later succumbed to their entreaties and completed her scenes.
The playfulness of child actors, Vincent claims, often gets the better part of them. One day, while filming a scene, Vincent wanted to take a break to reply to some messages on his phone when a child actor seized the phone. The girl did so, claiming she needed to get his attention. After shooting that particular scene, she refused to return the phone until four hours later when filming had ended. He then realized that his gallery was loaded with several selfies the girl had taken with his phone.
“There should be a time frame for child actors to work,” Vincent says when asked about how to better protect the interests of child actors in the industry. “For me, a child should not stay longer than 10 pm on set. Also, before a child acts in any scene, the management should examine the script to determine if it is suitable for the child actor or not. If there are any concerns, that should be communicated to the production management.”
For producer, actor and casting director Heavens Obule, working with a child actor should be possible after first considering factors such as the child’s acting experience, the child’s previous projects and familiarity with continuity, and accessibility to the child’s parents or guardians. “I remember producing a short film in which we used child actors, but then I realized that the child actors had a short attention span,” the filmmaker reminisces when asked about a personal story around work relationships with child actors. “Thankfully, my friend, the director, was a seasoned drama teacher with experience working with children. This helped us to navigate working with them.”
Another problem that confronts Nollywood child actors is the need to strike a balance between personal and professional commitments. Maintaining stability in both aspects of their life can be exhausting for these young ones who are not as emotionally mature as adults. Often, the responsibility to achieve this lies on the adults directly or indirectly involved in the affairs of the child. The Child Rights Act of 2003 already sets the ground rules for safeguarding children against vulnerabilities. Section 2 (1) of the Act states thus: “A child shall be given such protection and care as is necessary for the well‐being of the child, taking into account the rights and duties of the child’s parents, legal guardians, or other individuals, institutions, services, agencies, organisations or bodies legally responsible for the child.” As such, parents, caregivers, talent managers, directors, and other production team members have to care for child actors on and off set. They are expected to defend the rights of child actors in conformity with the Child Rights Act and other international laws and provide special working conditions for them while taking into consideration their educational and developmental requirements.
There’s also the issue of skill and training deficit with Nollywood child actors. Earlier this month, an X user complained about the quality of child actors in the industry. While these actors demonstrate notable talent in specific roles, they often struggle to exhibit the artistic range and versatility required to excel in diverse projects. Consequently, their acting abilities are confined to a narrow spectrum, hindering their capacity to fully inhabit complex characters and deliver standout performances consistently. In her 2024 article Children In Nollywood: Authenticity And Naturalness Of Acting Craft, Nzeribe notes that “without innate acting talent or training, child actors who learn only from screens may exhibit poor acting skills.” This is where we need industry stakeholders to step in and create more academies to properly and continuously groom child actors. In this regard, Nollywood actor Stan Nze is blazing a trail with The Kids Can Act Project. Established in 2019, the academy provides an annual acting training for kids to unearth and polish the next generation of Nollywood stars. Alumni of the project include Fiyinfoluwa Asenuga, Darasimi Nadi, and Pamilerin Ayodeji, all of whom are currently sought-after child actors in the industry. Niyi Akinmolayan’s upcoming film, Temi and the Labalaba Band, which is set for release this Easter holiday on the Anthill Family YouTube channel, will feature a couple of child actors from The Kids Can Act Project.
Nollywood has a long history of showcasing talented child actors, with some successfully transitioning to adult roles. Notable examples are Somadina Adinma, William Uchemba, Regina Daniels, Angel Unigwe, and Destiny Etiko. Unfortunately, many who started as child actors have struggled to remain successful later in their careers. To prevent this among the current generation of child actors, the industry needs a support system that nurtures young talents beyond their early years, enabling them to thrive and maintain relevance as adult actors.
A great deal of positive parental guidance and close mentorship from child counselors and senior industry professionals is needed to help Nollywood child actors navigate the conundrums of their existence not only as individuals with unique identities and gifts but also as role models, contributors to social narratives, and ambassadors of the country at large. At home, adult family members of child actors must endeavour to treat them as children so they can have fulfilled lives in their formative years without being affected by the extremities of their profession. Since the child actor is already an early income earner, the family must work with a talent management company to secure the child’s finances and help them explore suitable investment opportunities. Filmmakers, too, must be fair and respectful of the rights of child actors, prioritizing their physical and mental health over that of older colleagues. This might mean, for instance, that child actors should not be exposed to scenes of violence except when necessary. In such unavoidable situations, the child actors must be provided with therapy afterward.
