I had visited Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on Tuesday, February 2, 2016, for two reasons. The first was to witness the 40th anniversary of the creation of the state and the second was to see if I could wrap up work on the new book that I’m writing. Having read and made corrections all night, I couldn’t wait for daybreak before racing to the restaurant to stuff my tummy with whatever was available. But not long after I had made my order, he sauntered in. Yes, top Yoruba actor, producer and president of TAMPPAN, Dele Odule, walked in and I couldn’t resist asking him for an impromptu interview, and gladly he said yes. Not wanting to take chances, I raced to my room, fetched my tape recorder and pronto this super exclusive interview. Interestingly, mid way into it and while sipping our hot tea, his wife, Olabisi, also walked in. Trust me, I decided to push my luck further and it again turned out well as she too also agreed to join us. Thus, the couple, for the first time ever, shared their love story, secret of their marital success, acting and more with YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AZUH ARINZE. Enjoy…
What got you interested in acting?
Really, the village where I grew up actually influenced my artistic inclination…
(Interruption) – What’s the village called?
The village is called Olapomu, in Ijebu North local government (of Ogun State); very close to my town. I’m actually from Oru Ijebu. That’s where I come from. When I was very much younger, I used to be involved in all these traditional activities – I drum, I dance and I sing equally. So, when I had that opportunity of going to the modern school, because I didn’t actually go to secondary school, I went to a modern school. So, during my modern school education, some people were just coming. I mean this travelling theatre group. They kept coming to the school that I was attending, so it was right there that I discovered that even those things I had seen as talents, at least, I can use that to become my source of livelihood. That’s how I started. I actually started drama in 1977, immediately I left modern school.
So, what has sustained you this far, what has kept you going?
Yeah! One, consistency, then I am a very determined person. Like I said, I went to the modern school, but I can proudly tell you that I’m a graduate of Mass Communication today…
Which higher institution did you later attend?
Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State. Though I did it lately, but the fact remains that I am a graduate (Laughing). You see, I am a very determined person – when I want to do something, I follow it strictly and I make sure that I achieve it. So, I’ve been consistent. That, I will tell you, is the secret of my sustenance. I’ve been consistent because I believe I want to be a big dramatist, an actor and nothing is going to deter me from becoming what I choose to be.
From experience and with the benefit of hindsight, what would you say makes a good actor?
Like I said, it is all about passion. I am passionately in love with acting. I try as much as possible to do some research and to be a very good actor, you have to go into research, because if you want to interpret any character, say a drunkard, there is a need for you to actually say how best can I interpret this kind of a character? Then, there is a need for you to actually ask okay, have I ever seen a drunkard before? How does a drunkard behave and so on and so forth? So, I do a lot of research when it comes to acting.
What are the things that make you different as an actor?
Thank you! The difference between other actors and my very good self is that I don’t compete. When you compete with people, you don’t get there. But when you do it your own way, and you believe what I’m doing is just because I love doing it, then the sky is not going to be the limit, but the starting point.
What do you like most about being an actor?
It opens doors. That’s the truth. If you are very famous, it open doors. I am here for the 40th anniversary of the creation of Ogun State. If I had not been an actor, I may not have that opportunity. I’m not saying that it’s only because I’m an artiste, because people were there yesterday and they were not actors, but they must have done excellently well in their own areas or their fields. But when you are an actor, famous, popularity can open doors.
What don’t you like about being an actor?
What I don’t like, I have to confess, is that you don’t have your privacy. At times when you really mean something, people will be thinking that person is still acting. Like the woman that just left now – that’s my wife and that is the only wife I have…
What’s her name?
Her name is Barrister Olabisi Odule. She’s a lawyer, but unfortunately people who have seen her here today, tomorrow they will say o tie gbe omo wa (he brought his girlfriend). Those are the things! I saw Dele Odule yesterday, he was with a babe. Not knowing that even that person is my wife! So, because we are being deprived of our privacy, that’s one thing I don’t love.
What is the costliest mistake that any actor can make?
With the job you are bound to exhaust that creativity one day. So, if you don’t plan for the future, you will regret being an actor. Like I said, if you are very famous, people have been seeing you driving cars, living like a king, suddenly, because you cannot service that popularity any longer, maybe due to the fact that you have exhausted all you have as an actor, you will regret being an actor in your life, because people will still be seeing you as ‘Ah! Eni Ano’ (yesterday’s man). Oh my God, if you knew when this guy was this, was that, and that could even send you to your early grave. So, if an actor actually wants to live a fulfilled life, that person must be preparing for his or her retirement.
Which is your most memorable role so far? The one you always remember with so much fondness, joy…
Well, I have two. One, I will say Ti Oluwa Nile. Why I just said that is because it actually shot me to limelight…
What role specifically did you play in Ti Oluwa Nile?
I played the role of an oba, that educated oba and that will be the first time that character was being displayed on screen. Somebody who is a young man; the oba was actually invited from London to come and become an oba and so on and so forth. It is not that the character is special, but for the fact that it had never happened before…
So, which is the second one? You said they are two…
The second one is Morenike Alagbulu. Why I actually chose that particular production is because the producer, Jide Kosoko, never knew that was the way I was going to get it interpreted. I did it in such a way that it was so unique; I tried to marry a bit of comedy into it, even though that character was a very serious one. I tried to apply some traces of comedy so that I can carry along our viewers.
Which is the worst role that you have played?
The worst one? Whaoooh! I don’t know the definition of your worst one?
The role that you played, but never liked; that role that any time you remember it anger wells up inside of you…
I have never acted any role that I never loved. Of course, I believe an actor should be versatile. If you give me any role I will do it, but the only one I can say that I never really liked much was where…I’ve forgotten the title of the production; where I was told to come and kill a fowl. I didn’t like it much because I cannot kill a fowl. I can’t kill a fowl, I cannot kill anything, because I just don’t like killing anything. I don’t like it! No! I don’t like it! So, when I was given that character, I never knew I was going to be involved in killing a fowl. So, when it got to that point, I told them bluntly that I cannot kill a fowl. So, somebody now had to wear my cloth and do it on a very close shot. I didn’t like that portion, but they saw it as why should he say it? But it’s just that I cannot just kill a fowl! I can’t even kill anything!
You oversee one of the associations under which some Yoruba actors operate. Can you tell us about it?
Yes, the association is called Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Producers Association of Nigeria (TAMPPAN). It actually metamorphosed from the ANTP that we belonged to. But because ANTP had too much of litigations, that’s why we decided to pull out; the majority of us pulled out from the Association of Nigeria Theatre Arts Practitioners to form that particular association that I’m talking about now and I’m the pioneer president…
So, what separates this new association from ANTP?
Yeah, why we decided to leave ANTP is because we kept going to court always and because of one issue or the other that is uncalled for. So, we now said that will not move the industry forward. So, there’s need for us to do something different. We also have the majority of those people in ANTP in TAMPPAN. I don’t want to start mentioning names, but all those people who are in the mainstream of theatre practice are the people who are actually in TAMPPAN now.
As the pioneer president of TAMPPAN, what has been your greatest achievement so far?
So far, we have been able to do some repositioning. What we are doing now is just to reposition the association, we want to separate professionals from mediocres. When we do that, then we can go ahead. It is only when we know who are actually the practitioners that we can say let us work on these members. Until we do that, we cannot do anything. But we have succeeded in the last one year to reposition the association so that the industry itself can be repositioned.
Most people have this impression that most actors are womanizers. As a matter of fact, you even get mentioned as one. Why do you think people associate artistes with womanizing?
Like I said, it’s just because artistes are being deprived of their rights. A lawyer can be a womanizer as well, a journalist can be a womanizer, a doctor can be a womanizer, the same thing with being an actor too. But because they (actors) don’t have their privacy, everything they do, the public quickly knows. That is just the problem; it’s not that they are more into that practice than others…
But women seem to be more attracted to artistes. Why is this so?
No one will not want to be associated with success. Seriously! If this my young girl realizes that you are Azuh Arinze, she’s gonna fall in love (laughter). Because you are very handsome, you are a success too, so what else? I’m telling you, a woman will want to be attached to a success. She wants to tell the public or who cares to listen to her, that’s my man, that’s my boyfriend. No one will want to run away from success.
In acting, most people attain success, but they are unable to sustain it. What is usually the problem?
The problem is some of them. It is not because they are artistically inclined. Some of them moved into acting or entertainment generally because they believe Azuh Arinze is doing fantastically well as an actor, then I have to go there. That’s why I’ve just said that I don’t compete. If I love to become an hotelier, it is because of my passion for hotel; if I want to become a driver, it is because of my passion for driving. It is not because Azuh is driving, then I must become a driver and that is why you see them going in today and they jump out tomorrow.
What are the things that keep you busy whenever you are not working?
I actually don’t have one particular thing that keeps me busy. The only thing is I unwind with my friends. Some friends that I have, I go out with them. That’s the only thing. Unfortunately, I am a very lazy reader. I would have loved to, when I don’t have anything doing, read. If I had gotten that reading culture from the start, if I had been somebody who reads, I would have preferred that. I like people who read when they don’t do anything, because it updates your knowledge. Yeah, it updates your knowledge. But unfortunately, I don’t have that reading culture. I would have loved that.
What is your favourite food?
Eba!
How about your favourite drink?
Hmmm! Well, very recently I decided not to take beer any more. I will only take brandy. Why? Because I believe if I take a little brandy, that one can burn fats. But I drink, I drink…I do everything a man does (general laughter).
So, how much of a family man will you say you are?
Azuh, from what you have seen, you will know that well, I might not be that perfect; there is even no paragon of perfection. But you will know at least to an extent that I am an average person when it comes to a family man. You have just seen my wife and that means I’m very close to her (laughter). She lives there (pointing to her house). That’s her quarters there. She works with the Ogun State Ministry of Justice. I’m in the hotel because I need my comfort. So, I told her to come around. I could have as well lodged here and she won’t know and I will go and bring someone here. My children, the young ones, came here yesterday.
Let’s talk more about your wife. How did you meet her?
I met my wife in 1988, we had our first child in 1991, though he’s late now. The boy is late now. We got married officially 20 years ago. We got our first child before we actually went to the altar. I met her when she was just a young girl. She just left secondary school then…
Under what circumstance did you people actually meet?
Good! I have a brother who then was living at Aseru Estate, so I used to go to that house. The same wife and her parents were also living in the same estate. So, I saw this young beautiful girl and my brother was saying she’s a small girl o, she just finished secondary school and I said ko matter now! (laughter). Because I never thought she was too young. I’m older than her by…my wife is just 46 now and I’m in my 50s. I’m in my mid 50s. So, I’m much, much older than her, but you know, one thing led to another and that was it (The wife surprisingly saunters in and immediately I asked her to sit beside her husband and take some questions, which she grudgingly accepted. But on the condition that she must use her make up kit first)…Azuh, this is a big exclusive o, because I don’t think it has ever happened (laughter). So, I never thought I will marry her, because then I believed I was much older than this young girl. Seriously, I thought I will just play around with her and disappear. Unfortunately, when I got in, I now realized that she’s a wife material. So, there was the need for me to actually stick to her. And as fate would have it, I disvirgined her (immediately the woman covers her face with both hands, smiling). It was after that I said no, this is a wife material.
You said this union has been on for over 20 years, what would you say has kept it going?
Well, she did well and she’s still doing very beautifully well. When you talk about home, the only thing after God, because God sustains marriage. But the only person that actually makes it sustainable is the woman. So, she has done excellently well in that regard. She has done so much to make sure that the marriage is still intact. Because if she has to go by the way an actor would have lived, ah! (laughter). We are from different school of thoughts. I am from the acting, she is a legal practitioner. So, you can see that we are not from the same field…
So, any time you disagree or there’s an issue, how do you resolve it?
Like I said, more of that lies on women. I don’t know, we just settle, we just settle…Like 2 days ago, I was here, I just went to her flat there, come over here and she said she never prepared for that. I said how do you mean you never prepared for that? I said you should come and join me in my room and you said you never prepared the children for school? I was annoyed and I left. Later she came. I left the room and I went home. So, she slept here, alone. But yesterday I realized and said why did I have to do that? I called her today and she obliged. Another woman would have said you did something yesterday, I’m going to pay him back. She doesn’t do that.
That’s good! It’s obvious that God has been very nice to you…
(Cuts in) – Very nice!
What more do you want from God?
Well, good health, long life so that I can eat the fruits of my labour, because I have done so very well and like you have said, God has been so wonderful. God has done us greatly good, I won’t lie. Well, I don’t determine success by the volume of what you have in your account, but what I’ve been able to achieve… We are not wealthy, we don’t have money, but by the living standard of an average Nigerian, we are contented. We also have good children.
Tell us about your children…
Well, we have Abayo, Gbenga, Itunu, Semilore, Desola…I actually have about four of these children alone…because I don’t lie at all and she knows that. That is one of those things that has been keeping the marriage. When I do anything wrong, I tell her. I don’t keep things away from her. I tell her, I’ve done this. She can say ah, that is stupid. I don’t care, but I’ve done it. And I let her realize that I am an African man (laughs). Ehen! I’ve told you, don’t go beyond that. That is the Africanism in me. I have told you; call me anything, I don’t care. But don’t go beyond that. And I think that has been sustaining the marriage. To God be the glory, like I said, we have beautiful children. We have four in the university already – one is already a graduate, trying to pursue her Master’s. We have some who are going to graduate very soon; one in another 2-3 months…
What is Dele Odule’s personal definition of acting? That will be my last question for you so I can talk to madam briefly.
Hmmm! That’s a good one. My own definition of acting is…acting can be defined simply as what you want people to believe.
Madam, over to you. What do you like most about your husband?
Nothing spectacular! I just like him. You know then, when I was still younger, I think what attracted me was his physique. You know most ladies, they want them tall, dark and handsome (general laughter). But the real thing then was that, even though he wasn’t a celebrity then, I saw in him that he’s hardworking and focused. So, that was what attracted me.
What don’t you like about him?
(Silence) – Honestly, there is no perfect human being. We have our weaknesses. One of his weaknesses that I don’t like is his temper…That’s what I don’t like…
Egbon, so you have a temper?
Particularly when you don’t want the woman to be your boss (laughter)…
(Taking over, the wife says) – But now that he’s getting old, it’s decreasing gradually.
From his own point of view, he has told me what he believes has kept this marriage going. Can we have yours?
When I was entering the relationship, I didn’t know what I was going into. Yes! It was when I got there that I now faced the reality of being married to a (star)…No, he wasn’t a star then. He wasn’t a celebrity then. But maybe his kind of job. It’s very challenging for any woman to be a partner to someone in that field. But it has been God and my determination.
What’s your dream for this marriage?
My dream is for us to grow old together, by the grace of God, see our children doing well. That’s what I pray to God for. And in good health. Growing old in good health.
Back to you, Mr. Odule. Finally, what’s your own dream for this marriage?
Like she has said, I’m looking forward to that day that she will be celebrating 70, 75 or 80, if I’m still very much around, then I will still say this is my wife (laughs).