Tunbosun Aiyedehin is not your everyday screen goddess. The actress, who has been in the industry for more than two decades, spoke to DUPE AYINLA-OLASUNKANMI on her role as a half-baked literate in an upcoming series among other issues. Excerpts
WHAT was it like playing a half-educated woman in the upcoming series Crazy World?
Well, along the line, fun comes into it. There is so much going on and because it is a series and with episodes, there is the continuity, changes and twist. You have got to know what you are doing all the time. The challenging part – Adaeze Okpala is not educated. So I have to chip in a bit or some Igbo. So I am learning on the job. I had also done some homework before coming on the set and had with me some experiences I have learnt from my Igbo friends in the past. There are times that I look at the script and feel there are some words that should be spoken in Igbo. So I pick some little word and have it translated. When she told me about the work initially, I thought to myself this is ‘Fuji House of Commotion’. And a friend had already said to be before that I was good at mimicking and told me to give it a trial.
Is this your first movie for the year?
No, I have worked with Judith Audu, another producer and then I took a break, because I wanted to be ready for this one. I have been in real life with Victor Okpala too. God has been good.
Life as an actor, how has it treated you?
Fun, nice and a bit naughty here and there because some people just feel she can pull it off. They just call me and say they want me to do a particular role and I am like ‘wow’. I mean having me called up to do a monologue within 24-48hours. Somehow, God just sees me through. I get to hear stuff; but they can only say they cannot do beyond what they have done because they are not God. Stuff like ‘she is not going to work anymore as long as I am in this industry.’
Aside that, tell us what are the downsides of being an actor?
Trust me; I cannot pick one in my place because I have not experienced much in that area. I can only speak from the point of view of some other actors that have shared with me. Quite frankly, I think I have just been a blessed little nutmeg. I haven’t seen myself going though that stream per se. It’s been fun for me, challenging in respect of roles, and smooth with respect to playing them out.
So downsides for me, no. But some people have come to me to say, ‘Aunty, can you call me for audition because the people I have been talking, some of them have said unless I come to see them personally’. And then I say to them, watch, do they want you to exchange money and they say no ‘Aunty you understand now’. I am alarmed when I hear this. And I say ‘God thank you’, because it has not seem like that for me at any point in time of my career. So I cannot get over it, but then I know it exists. Because I will be fooling myself if I say the fact that I have not been through it does not mean it does not exists. Basically, I don’t even know how to knock it off.
Are you saying there are no downsides since you started?
One major downside for me, I will say, is costuming. When they call you for a job, the tendency for them is to see you costume yourself and the fee is not encouraging. How do I do that when you are not going to pay for it?
Basically I want you to look on point even to a bole seller, to the wife of a billionaire. But then we have to be able to reach a financial agreement. And bringing stuff for you from my wardrobe, what are you going to do financially? When I finish with it, somebody is going to take care of the laundry, and that’s you. Because if I do not launder it from you, how do I use it for the next person? If I come to your set smelling like some sort of erupted volcano, you will want to call me aside as an elder person and say quite frankly ‘Aunty you are smelling’.
So how do you tackle this?
Before I go onset I ask questions, like who is costuming, who is doing the make-up, but I take care of my hair. But they add these downsides for an upcoming actor, because she probably feels she can provide all that because she has been called.
It is still early. What does this year holds for you?
It’s going to be work, work, and work. I have some premieres already online. 10 Virgins for example by Blessing Egbe will be premiering by Easter and I am working toward it because her dress code is mind blowing.
Also Father’s Day; the season2 will premiere too. I did Dear Bayo last year and it was sceptical to accept. But thank God, He saw me through it because there was a lot of emotion in the role I played. I played the mother to a son who experienced jungle justice; and his character was murdered. To be real, you find out that the people you are trying to get rid off do not really known anything about what they are being accused of. They are usually innocent, which was what happened to my son’s character. That I know will come out this year and go for festivals.
