The name Femi Jacobs may not resonate as a Nollywood actor, but to lovers of popular MNET TV soap, Tinsel, it sure rings a bell. Femi, who landed his first movie role on the set of The Meeting, sure has a lot to say in that regard. In this interview with MERCY MICHAEL, the popular lawyer, Eddy, on Tinsel, talks about his perception of Nollywood movies, the stars and their lifestyle. Excerpt:
BEFORE you came on the set of Tinsel, MNET TV soap, what experience did you have in acting?
To be honest with you, I never thought I was going to be an actor. I admired actors. I liked what they did but I never thought I was going to do that. I just wanted to make money. In 2006 we had a production in my church. The movie was called Choices and it was directed by Don Pedro Obasaki. I had just returned from South Africa then. I was there for about three years. When I got back they said they would like me to take part in the production. It was my church. I couldn’t say no. It was a lead role. I went and I did that. Don Petro, was the first person to tell me then that I am talented in acting. We finished that job but it wasn’t well promoted. It was church money.
In 2008, they said they wanted to do another production. This one was supposed to be a TV series. It was called Tango. It was shot in Epe. At a point when we were shooting, Solomon Macaulay, the director, encouraged me to give acting my full attention. Coming from someone like Solomon, I knew he knew what he was talking about. And I told him I will think about it. A few months later, he saw me in church and he again encouraged me to go and audition for Tinsel. I went sometime in 2009. Three days later, I was called and offered a role of Eddy, a lawyer.
How were you able to combine your banking job at that time with acting?
I am a young man, jumping from the Mainland to the Island to shoot was a bit tasking I must say. It was not really completely easy but I was interested. When you’re interested in something you will find a way around it. I think that was what happened with Tinsel, coupled with the fact that we weren’t shooting every day. We were told a day or two before the shoot so we had time to plan. I liked what they were doing. I thought I wanted to learn it. Actually, it was on the set of Tinsel I began to think about the idea of leaving banking, and I eventually did.
Now that you’ve quit banking, is acting all you do?
I’ve always been into marketing and branding. That is what I learnt in school. I do a little practice on the side. I have a handful of clients that I service in that regard. I can’t completely say I resigned from the bank because of acting. I don’t want you to get that impression. I resigned because I knew that I could be busy doing my stuff. I was singing. My first album came out in 2001.
In 2004 I released another album and in 2010 another one. Though it was just in the Christian community, it was encouraging. The response was good. I wasn’t a superstar at singing but I could manage. So between singing, acting and working, I thought I should drop the one I was enjoying the least which was the banking job. It was taking a lot of time and it wasn’t really returning a lot of equity to me in happiness so eventually I had to leave.
You said you were in South Africa for three years. What were you doing there?
When I left in 2004 I wanted to learn how to fly planes. When I got there I saw a couple of my friends who were pilots so I got into flying school. I got my private pilot license in 2006. But before I would go for the commercial rating, I wanted to come home and work for a bit because I also wanted to have some corporate experience. I came home and I started working and because I started working I couldn’t go for my commercial rating. So I’m only a private pilot.
Is The Meeting your first movie?
It is the very first big screen movie I have ever done.
Tell us your role in the movie
I played the role of Makinde, a Civil Engineer who lost his wife. Makinde was very much involved in his company’s life. He was in the background, always doing research and development. He had two children, a boy and a girl. He was 45 years old. His story is that his company was downsizing because the economic climate was not friendly.
So he had to take on a few more duties than he used to. By so doing, he had to interface with government. Talk to them about the projects they are doing and get the government to buy into it because that’s the only way his company could stay afloat. That was what made him go to Abuja for the first time in his life. He went to make a presentation to a Minister. He was supposed to have his appointment on Monday Morning by 9.30 and be on a flight back to Lagos by 1 pm but he entered an office for the first time; to collide with that ‘world’. He meets Ejira on the way and she was like an interruption in his schedule. Ejira later became a blessing in disguise, a love interest. The story is a beautiful story.
What do you have in common with Makinde?
The point where my personality and that of Makinde would crisscross would be in our understanding of target. If you have worked in a corporate setting before, you will know that there is pressure for target and you will do whatever it takes to get the job done. I think I learnt that in banking and it helped in my interpretation of Makinde a lot. Apart from that, I’m not as stiff as Makinde. I’m quite more practical.
In this movie, you worked with A-listers. What was it like, knowing that you probably had your perception about them before now?
Naturally before you get to meet people, you probably would have your perception about them. I’m sure they will forgive me if I say what I used to think before I eventually met them. I thought they were caught up in their own bubbles and they didn’t really mingle a lot. That is what I used to think. I thought they would be quite stiff and ‘unrelatetable’.
You can then imagine my shock when I got on set for the first time. I began to have my theories dismantled almost immediately because Rita Dominic turned out to be such a warm, kind and very attentive person. And then she offered me a seat. Stars don’t offer people seats. After a while, she said would you like something else. I said no, I’m okay. In fact, the seat they offered me I couldn’t sit on it. It was quite shocking. And then when we got on set I thought they were going to look at me like what’s he coming to do here but no, these guys called me aside, advised me, told me how to internalise script, how to carry a character. Everybody wanted me to succeed. It was amazing.
Coming from a sitcom background, what were your thoughts about Nollywood movies and have they changed?
It would be easy for anybody who is not involved in that world to criticise it, but they won’t know the challenge of making a film is not so easy. I think that with the exception of a few, the Nollywood practitioners that I’ve come across are actually very thorough and knowledgeable about what they want to do but they are limited by infrastructure and money. You’ve brought someone, you’ve signed a contract of 22days you are already like 30days in and you still haven’t finished the job.
So really how in the world, would you not cut a few corners with nobody willing to give you money. Banks won’t loan you money. The person who manages to give you money will want the movie out as soon as possible so they can get their money back. Those challenges I didn’t know before so I was a couch critic as well. I don’t blame people who criticise. I’m just saying that my first impression was that they weren’t doing their best.
Ejira, played by Linda Ejiofor, was your love interest in the movie, The Meeting. Having had a relationship on Tinsel did you find it easy relating with her?
Apart from the fact that Linda is a talented actress, she’s quite experienced before the cameras. Soaps are about small talk and Linda is a master of small talk. I think that’s the brilliance in the casting. I think she was brilliant at that. She has certain vulnerability about her. I’ve known her before but she brought in some things I never saw. It brought us a bit closer and I really admired her character and her interpretation of that character.
Would I have been able to interpret my character the way I did with Ejira with someone else? I’m not sure. If there is a certain innocence that Ejira needs to have in order to provoke the kind of response that she got from Makinde, anybody acting will tell you that the man opposite you makes a lot of difference. It brings you to how you eventually come at it. It gives you good enough energy. You have good energy to give back. It’s a give and take thing. She was brilliant and I really thank God. There are a lot of things that I have to thank God for.
Can you quantify the amount of work you put into it to what you were paid?
As a starter, for me, at this point, it’s not even smart for me to think about money. It didn’t matter. I could have done this job for free because I liked the script. It’s the very first time now. I have to be realistic. There are people out there who can do a better job than I did. I will not sit here and be wondering about money.
So we didn’t have any problem about that. I think that for a few more jobs afterwards, I’m still going to learn the ropes, understand what it is about. It’s not really about money for me at this time. In fact I stayed longer than is necessary so I could understand it and get to know how they do it. I’m getting smarter at it now because we’ve done about two other movies afterwards. So I was able to bring all I’ve learnt into it. So I’m grateful.
Are you saying that The Meeting has started opening doors for you?
I think people always wait for someone to take a chance on you. I don’t blame them. Like I said, the challenges are quite real. You want to make a movie, you want a known face. We are starting a programme to bring new faces into the industry. It is the Director’s plan. It’s a director’s pride to bring a new face but at the same time, they also wish to sell. There is the need to be commercially successful because if I’m not successful I won’t even have any production to bring anybody into new or old. I understand that commercial consideration and that’s why I’m grateful Mildred took that chance on me just by watching 3minutes clip of me on Tinsel.
There is no doubt; the list of your female fans is going to swell even more now. How do intend to handle female fans who will want to get overboard with you?
I resolved a long time ago that one can never get enough of anything, so at the end of the day; one seeks the things that matter. You will make mistakes. You will fall, you will rise. People have a right to your life. There is nothing you can do about it when you are in people’s faces every day. They have a right to take you personal, to imagine that you are their son, brother, uncle and lover.
They will try and do that. But by and large, most people are decent and by the time you try to define the boundaries respectfully, people always know when they are overboard. People have been kind to me I must say. My female fans, specifically my mother always warns me that I should be careful. I think I’ve been that careful. My female fans are my sisters. Like my pastor always tells me, all the female people in the world are your sisters. Don’t do to them what you don’t want people to do to your own blood sister. I’ve always been a public person. Every Sunday I will get up there and sing. I never thought it was a big deal until people started sending me secret notes and text messages.
It was quite a shock but later I began to realise it happens. When you’re projected, you’re sort of like in people’s thoughts more. They will react to you in unpredictable ways. For some of them, the only way they can show that they appreciate you, is by offering you their body. It’s left to you to decide whether to take advantage of them or not. Obviously, that is not the kind of reputation I want to build for myself. I’m not saying I will not have a relationship but I don’t want to damage people and myself in the process.
Is that why you are not in a relationship?
Maybe next time I will tell you.
