Akin Akintola Lewis became a popular face back in the 70s through a television series, Why Worry. The versatile actor recently celebrated his 40th year in the world of art . He shares with Adetutu Audu his journey to stardom.
CONGRATULATIONS on your 40th anniversary. What does it mean to you to be 40 years on stage?
It is a whole lifetime for me; it’s 40 years of dealing with life about life in life. You know, it’s a whole lot. It’s been 40 years of educating, entertaining, fun, hard work and meeting and knowing people.
What would you say attracted you to the acting world?
My dad used to buy me comic books, literature books and all of that and I used to take part in all these children’s TV programmes, and I was very active in dramatic and debating societies while I was in primary school. When I got to secondary school too, I was very active, really active. So, by the time I was sitting for my WAEC (West African Examinations Council) exams, I knew what I wanted to be.
Theatre practitioners were seen as never do-wells in those days. Did you suffer any opposition from your parents?
My father was an engineer and I have brothers and sisters who were accountants, so everybody expected me to either be an engineer or an accountant, but I wanted to be a theatre practitioner. And in those days, there really wasn’t money in it like we have now. You know, it wasn’t the best of profession to choose at that time; in fact, I had a fall-out with my dad because of it.
So, how were you able to win them over?
When I became a star, that was when the whole fight got settled. He saw clearly what it was all about and he would be boasting and telling his friends, oh! Do you know my son? That’s my son now! I used to do a very popular programme, Why Worry, then in Ibadan. When I became a star because of that programme, everything finished, no more fight.
You became a star at the tender age of 22 when you acted the role of a 60-year-old in Why Worry. What was it like, coming from a background where you were not known?
It was incredible. It wasn’t as if I wasn’t known at all then, because we were doing a lot of TV dramas and all of that, but it was astronomical. The rise to stardom and suddenly, everybody wasn’t thinking about oh! theatre art is not good; everybody now wanted their sons or their children to study drama. And for me, everybody wanted to be my friend. You know, people would offer to buy me drinks, offer to pay for my food if I went to the restaurant; it was incredible, just the stardom.
Since theatre practice was not paying handsomely, how were you able to cope financially?
It wasn’t very lucrative at that time to be a theatre practitioner. First and foremost, it wasn’t structured. Something happened at NTA Ibadan, the General Manager then, Dr. Faronbi, created a drama unit and I was part of it. That place, he now structured it, so that we were now receiving stable salaries like everybody else. So it became very structured; we were able to sit down, write plays, act, direct and produce and as a matter of fact, we went further to produce all those big theatre artists who were the likes of ‘Baba Sala’ and co.; that was what helped us. But even then, we were still all very young, we were single, so it wasn’t a big deal. But then when we got married and it became very necessary to have very regular meals on the table and that was again when I realised that I needed a surplus income. What I then did was to look for a parallel profession which then led me into the corporate world. That’s how I started doing marketing, advertising, public relations and all of that.
Fame attracts women and you hit the limelight before you married, how easy was it for you to pick a wife?
It was a bit difficult, but you see in those days, times were better, girls had proper upbringing, home training and all of that, so if you needed to find a wife, just look at the background, the family, the pedigree and you are likely to get a girl that is very stable and all of that, unlike today. Yes, I was a Romeo of sort, but the truth is, they say out of 1001 girlfriends, it’s the one on top that’s the lucky one. So, just look at the background and you fill like, oh! This one comes from a good home and it will show; she won’t run around, you are not likely to find her going to club and stuffs like that, so you’ll know that, maybe, this is your own.
Aside from her background, being a Romeo at that time, what was the edge the lucky lady had over others?
I guessed she just fell in love with me. Well, I was popular as it were. It took me like one year to woo her before she agreed because she was like, this guy… it took like one year. And I was starting to get not interested anymore, and then she started showing interest and all of that. Em! I guess I have always been my natural self, very exuberant, outgoing and you know, I didn’t have money then but we had prospects, so I guess all of those things put together.
Getting into the corporate world then, how were you able to juxtapose the two; doing the world of art and the corporate world?
The truth is, I don’t know, if you ask me. It was tough, but I’m a very scheduled person, very organised and what I would do most of the time, I was doing overnight recordings or weekend recordings or just take my leave and do the corporate thing. I was always a very tired person, you work during the day, during the night; and I knew that if I wanted to still remain in this industry, I had to do that. You don’t want to get out, because once you get out, you can’t make any more impact, people forget you. So I needed to stay there, so it was, well, the grace of God and a lot of hard work and organisation.
Will it be right to say you found a way of staying back in the industry while you were working in the corporate world simply because you wanted to keep your relevance in the industry or keep your face in the public?
Yes! The thing for me is, I always knew I was coming back full time because to me this is my first love, this is it. I knew that if I had to come back, then I had to be relevant, otherwise, I’d have to go and start again. So, that’s why as a strategy, I had one foot in there, and one foot in here (one in the corporate, one in the entertainment); and that’s how I kept it, so when I finally retired from corporate, it was easy for me to continue.
How were you able to fit in back, judging from the angle of the pay you were earning in the corporate world, compared to what is obtainable in the entertainment world?
Oh! By the time I was leaving the corporate world, the entertainment industry…there had been a boom, a very big boom, you know, so it wasn’t difficult at all because I was already a star; a premium actor, it was just a matter of getting the jobs and doing the plus and minuses. I was earning as much as I was earning there, maybe more.
So, if you want to look at the past with what is obtainable at the moment, can you compare the two in terms of pluses and the minuses?
In those days, we had highly trained people. I’m telling you, even if you didn’t go to school, you are with one professional group or the other, highly trained. These days, there are not many trained people around, everybody thinks they are this and that; they don’t know the most of it. In those days there was not much money in it, but today there is a lot of money. If you become a star, it is your face, that’s what will sell you, so you earn a lot of money. In those days, of course, the technology was very low, the cassette we’re used to came in discs that were very big. Now you have it in small sizes and then of course in those days even your popularity was limited to probably the channels that the TV station was showing; for us then in those days was eh! Channels 3, 4, 5 and 7 which took care of Ibadan, Lagos, Ilorin, Ogun State and all of that, but these days, there is satellite digital all over the world, there is internet; there is phone that is mobile and all of that. So, today I’m saying that your face is all over the world. Before, maybe it’s just your locality, those are the pluses and minuses.
Can you share with us some of your memorable moments?
There are projects you cannot forget in a hurry. For instance, Madam Dearest, I know that I have to use all of those feelings, the emotions, cry, was happy, I was sad, I laughed and all of that. I remember Mind Bending where I had to play a drug addict, I had to go and spend like a week at Yaba with the doctors and the inmates, so I could know how to do these things and that was tough, very tough, and so you get to remember those trainings. Of course I remember when we were training in the school of drama, we used to say then that the only place tougher than the school of drama was the army; that was how tough it was.
Would you say you are fulfilled?
I am much fulfilled. Up till this point, there is nothing that I set my mind to that I have not done; you know but tomorrow it’s another day, I’m very fulfilled. Maybe if the boom came when we were also a lot younger, maybe we would have had a longer time of enjoying the proxy but here we are still relevant even now, we are still. In life, there are old, young, middle age. We grow in stages, but I’m fulfilled.
What legacy are you leaving for the industry?
Yabake Youths Foundation for Arts is concerned about helping the moving art. Ours is the moving arts, helping it to realise itself better by helping young talents to be better in what they do and how they do it. And this is what formed the school. It is through the school that the foundation will take care of all of these shortcomings in the young talents and even practicing practitioners too, the professionals.
You have been scandal-free, what is the secret?
We all come from different backgrounds, but what makes your pedigree? It is the home from where you came, the schools that you attended, your teachers, the kind of work you do, your friends and all of that. I guess my pedigree helped me in a lot of ways and like I told you, I always want to be the best and so I took a conscious effort, because I took conscious decision just to be who I am because I know doing what I do, I am a mentor to many. I am a role model to many and I realise that I can’t go around to just be messing up, I need to be focused and so with God helping me, I was very focused but it was a conscious decision that I took to be scandal-free. I’m not a saint, it is just that if you decide to live a straight way, you will; if you want to go the wicked path, you will and then again one of the things they teach us in the school of drama, the first rule, the cardinal rule is ‘you never forget who you are’. So it doesn’t matter the role that I take, once I finish, I wash my face, I clean-up, I change, I’m Akin Lewis again and I go home. Because I play a billionaire, now must I act like a billionaire, now I go and start doing some things and then fall into trouble? I don’t do that.
Is there anything you would like to change about yourself?
If there is anything I would like to change about myself, maybe it has already happened. When I was younger, I used to be on a fast lane, I was always anxious, things needed to happen like yesterday, but right now it doesn’t happen like that anymore. I realised that, eh, take it easy man! I guess with age, wisdom has come to bear; there is nowhere you are rushing to, like my people say, the water you’ll drink will not flow beyond you.
-Akin Lewis
