No-nonsense actor, Yemi Solade, needs no introduction in the Nigerian movie industry. The 53-year-old father of three children, a boy and two girls, has had so many controversial and scandalous stories associated with him. In this interview with YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine, he explained why he can’t do without getting into such situations, his purported romance with politics and more…
When you started out as an actor, what were the rules you set for yourself?
Well, I just wanted to express myself, knowing full well that I have some talents deposited in me and the right thing to do was what I did. I went to train formally, trying to see if at the end of the day, I was right with my judgment and I am happy today that I didn’t disappoint myself.
Who is a good actor?
A good actor is that person who has the knowledge and talent naturally and inbuilt to act. Then, the one who goes to train formally, professionally and academically. He is someone who is dedicated to the art, is disciplined, always keeps to time and understands the rudiments of the trade, with a lot of integrity as well and ever consistent.
Who is a good producer?
Anybody can be a producer. Producing is not a professional area. If you wake up today and say you want to shoot a film from your village, because you have a good story there, that makes you a producer. Nobody trains to be a producer, but you can train to be an actor, director, writer and some other areas. But not as a producer.
Why do you think so many actors started well but later faded away?
I think it is a socio-economic factor. There are lots of challenges actors face in Nigeria. Most of them spent above their means. You can imagine an actor going on air to say “I have shot over one hundred movies in a year”. It is absurd. It doesn’t happen in any developed country and whether you are A-list or ‘waka pass’, it is not ideal to say you have done so much flicks in a year. It shouldn’t be. But this is the reality of our time, so we are just trying to adjust because of the socio-economic factor of our country. How much does an A-list actor earn in Nigeria for him to shoot a movie or two in a year? So, you find them running every week on location, because the remuneration is nothing to talk about and even when some of us go out to hype ourselves unnecessarily with a lot of lies, it is still the same. You can imagine an actor coming out to say he is the highest paid artiste in Nigeria and you will never understand the parameter for saying that. So, you wouldn’t be able to measure all of that going by what you see with your eyes. But today, if the stories are true, why are actors now jumping about in politics? Everybody wants to go for the national cake. This tells you that the industry is sick. That most of the things we read on the pages of newspapers, watch on TV, are just cosmetic. So, the moment we sit down to tell ourselves we want to be sincere, the objective will definitely take the industry to the next level and we would begin to see positive moves.
You have been in the business for long, who is the best producer you’ve ever worked with?
I don’t think I have seen the best, but I can tell you the producers that have earned my respect. I don’t think I have anything like ‘the best’ in my dictionary, because a man who would not say something is the best, Prof. Wole Soyinka, trained me.
But I have worked with disciplined, focused and resourceful producers. Maybe I should mention their names; people like Tade Ogidan, Tunde Kelani, Jimi Odumosu, who are internationally acclaimed as the reference points in Nigeria in the area of film making. Kunle Afolayan is one of them too. So, just like an actor, and just like we have in football, you want to work for the very best, you want to work for the national team of your country. So, I think I have worked with very best hands in this country.
Why do you think scandals always go hand in hand with established stars?
Well, not only stars; even in the household of God, some pastors are riddled with controversies too. Once you get into limelight, controversies start surrounding you. If, for instance, I look around and nature presses, and I have to ease myself, there are no public toilets, where do I do it? If I do it by the road side, it becomes news, but if an unknown person does it, he goes scot-free. Everything about a public figure is controversy – prone, so there is nothing extraordinary about that as long as those controversies are not criminal intents and they are not aligned with criminality. There is nothing wrong with that. It is all part of the show.
What is the worst thing you have ever heard about yourself?
One happened in November 2011. A lady I didn’t know, from America, said I sent my nude picture to her. It was very embarrassing and I got a call from her and she wanted me to prove that I was actually Yemi Solade. I did everything humanly possible and it went awry, into some verbal abuse and I won’t take that. I won’t say that I am temperamental, but I’m that kind of person who won’t settle for less. So, I went on Facebook to alert fellow celebrities to be wary of such a person and the next thing she did was to contact her own source in the media to write some stuff about me and there was a picture of me on a set with my chest open and they called that nudity. For an actor, that isn’t nudity. Then again, there was this youth corps member that I never met who thought I should invite her to an award ceremony which I didn’t do and she said I told her I was going to curse her if she didn’t have sex with me. Funny enough, these are characters that I haven’t met. I don’t even know them. So, these are embarrassing situations really.
There was another report too that you impregnated an 18-year-old undergraduate, how true is that?
Yeah, yeah! I heard that one too. Then, another rumour had it that I had a child from somebody I didn’t even know. You see, I think because I am a little bit vocal, I’m a little bit to the left and like a police in my industry, especially my immediate constituency, I don’t know those who think those fabricated stories are the only way they can use to shut me up. But for crying out loud, my family is not bothered, my wife understands all of these and my children are okay with me.
But why do you think this keeps coming to you?
No! Not keeps coming. I think those are about the ones I have heard and I think it’s been on since 2011 or thereabout and I don’t know maybe there is something fundamental about my person that they all want to associate with, that they can’t get across and the next thing I hear is “he is too pompous, he’s arrogant, he talks anyhow, let’s deal with him, let’s bring him down”. Well, I just think it is all pure nonsense. I don’t want to say it’s political because I’m not a politician. So, these things actually don’t judge me. I read them and smile because my immediate family understands, they know who I am. They know I am a rebel. What I don’t want, I speak up and a lot of people don’t like that. So, I think I do run into a lot of troubles with characters who think I should be more diplomatic by saying “don’t worry, we will get you one day”. No, I won’t do that. I am too old to be hypocritical now.
You said you are not into politics, but your political campaign posters for the Senate came up before the primary elections. How do you defend this?
Interestingly, it was a comical thing. Early this year, I guess I had my birthday in January. A friend of mine, Bunmi Daramola who lives in the UK; he was a set below in school. He designed the poster and posted it on Facebook, and then he called me to say he would want me to see something. I saw it and I just laughed over it. I didn’t know it will be a big deal. This was some months ago. Incidentally, I had to explain this to some of you guys, but not until entertainers, both the serious and the pretentious ones, began to romance politics and the poster emerged again. But, for crying out loud, I have never been a politician and I am not a politician. I want to remain an actor and if I wish to serve my people, I will do that as a technocrat. I want to remain a technocrat that I am and if I’m given an opportunity to serve in government, I won’t decline it, but I don’t think I have the nerves to be in a position where I would run around pasting posters and run around deceiving the masses. I don’t think I have the nerves for that.
Who is the real Yemi Solade that most people don’t know?
Yemi Solade is just that guy next door. I eat in the buka, I live cosmopolitan, but I am a pan Africanist. I am very Afrocentric and I know the Africaness about me. I talk naturally, I act, I respond to stimuli when I should. People would say he is over board. Well, to me, I think I do the necessary, I do the needful; I am just human. The fact that I’m a little bit critical about what I do is what I was trained to do, but a lot of my colleagues don’t see this on the positive side. They think that is what we all do, but that is not true. I am that person who does not flow with the general pattern. If everybody is going right, I should know why I want to go left. So, I am an individual on my own and I want to remain unique even when I work with a lot of people. I am not the kind of person people would be satisfied with, but it doesn’t really matter to me. I respect the laws of the land and I am a happy person. I am a jolly good fellow and I believe that is what matters.
NB: First published January 2015