EXPOSED!!! THE SECRET REALITIES OF PURSUING ACTING IN NIGERIA WHICH NO TOP INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL WILL TELL YOU

Now, all what I am about to tell you in this article are all my personal opinions based on my experiences and observation on the industry so please, no need to break bottle on someone's head. 

You can choose to agree and learn from it or not. So let's go. 

- ACTING IN NIGERIA WILL NOT MAKE YOU RICH. 

Acting will put food on your table but it would not make you rich. Most Nigerian Actors and Actresses who you think are rich are not really rich. Most of the rich ones know how they became rich and it is NOT through acting. Read that again. 

Remember, this is not America (Hollywood). This is Nigeria (Nollywood) and it's a whole different ball game here. It would shock you to know that there are so many young new actors who are living from hand to mouth. They can barely survive. It's sad but it's the truth. Some wait for months before they can even get a single role. Some would have to audition for months before they can bag a movie role. Some dont even have money to transport themselves for auditions.

My advice, think of a second career that gives you money. This is because you need money to pursue your Acting career in Nigeria. Read that again. You don't want to know how many Aspiring actors and actresses have given up on pursuing their acting career because of this. You need money to make money. If not, you would end up begging to feed yourself before the long awaited role finally comes. And that's if it will even come.

-YOU CAN GO FOR OVER TWENTY DIFFERENT AUDITIONS AND WONT GET A SINGLE CALL-BACK. GET READY TO HEAR LOTS OF "NO".

This is just to prepare your mind. In this industry, you will go for over twenty to thirty different auditions and you might not get a single call back. Not because you are a bad actor or you did not audition well but because you DO NOT LOOK THE PART. Therefore, you are not what the director is looking for.

Looking like a character is 90% of your audition. This is what directors won't tell you.

A casting director might be auditioning for a Slim, Tall, Dark and Handsome young man in his late 20's with a height of 6ft. 3inch. He puts out an open casting call. So many actors show up including you who is average in height, light in complexion, averagely looking and in your mid 20's. You come in and kill the character at the audition. 

The casting director already looking at you has ruled you out from the very moment you walked in to the audition room despite you nailing the character to his taste. He won't give you a call-back or rather use you because you do not look the part. Not because you are not good. Not because you can not act. But because you don't look like what he is looking for. Simple. 

In advanced countries, Audition process are better programed because their auditions have what we call "Character Bible". This Character Bible is more like a description of each character which tells you how each character looks like and a little backstory of each character so if you don't fit the image of the character, dont bother showing up for the audition or sending your monologue. But here in Nigeria, everything na "gbasgbos" and it's just sad. 

Even when you did a good job at the audition, get ready to hear alot of "NO" and "We Would Get Back To You". Make these words your best friends for you would hear them alot in this industry. 

-MOST YOUNG UPCOMING NIGERIAN ACTORS AND ACTRESSES LIKE YOU HAVE ENTERED INTO MASSIVE DEPRESSION AND FRUSTRATION. 

This has become the reality of most young aspiring upcoming actors and actresses in the industry today and there are reasons for it. An Aspiring young actor who keeps going for auditions and yet not getting a callback will easily get frustrated with life and fall into depression. You are spending money on transport for auditions coupled with the stress of jumping in and out of public buses to get to these venues on time and yet it's not yeilding tangible dividend is enough to demoralize any Aspiring Actor.

The truth is, this has made such aspiring actors go into severe depression. Putting in such much effort in training and auditioning daily and not booking jobs is enough to frustrate you especially when you have done this for years. Do you know there are aspiring actors who have not bagged a single role ever since they started actively pursuing their acting career? You can actually stay up to two years without booking a movie role despite you auditioning and putting in the work to grow your craft. Yes...it happens. Alot of Nigerian Actors have been in this boat and some are currently in it as we speak.

This is where I will say GET A SECOND CAREER again during these period because that second career is what will sustain you  during the rainy days but don't lose focus on your acting dreams.

An Actors journey is a very lonely one. You will need one major skill for this journey ahead of you and that is RESILIENCE. If you do not have a thick skin, you won't survive in the industry. If you cannot handle rejection, you won't survive in this industry. 

If you are the type that compares yourself with other Actors, you have just shot yourself in the leg because you will see your fellow Actors booking jobs while you have not even featured in a single movie. If your head is not emotionally strong, you might end up depressed and frustrated for a very long time. 

Though there are lots of other realities but I believe these ones I have discussed above can set the foundation for you. This post was not to discourage anyone but Instead, it is to prepare your minds for what lies ahead. You might not appreciate all I have said here this night but in the coming years,I promise you that you will. 

Tonight I want you all to ponder on all what I have said and speak to yourself. Talk to yourself. Ask yourself this question.

- WHY DO I WANT TO BE AN ACTOR/ACTRESS?

If PASSION is not your reason then you are wasting your time because when everything finally fails you in the industry, that little PASSION for acting is what will keep you going. That passion is what will sustain you and make you to keep going for that audition even when you won't be picked.

And above all, I believe in one thing. And that is TIME. Even the bible says...

"I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but TIME and CHANCE happen to them all"- Eccelsiates 9 vs 11.

When it's your own TIME on the surface of this earth, even the Universe would be forced to give that MOVIE ROLE to you. So cheer up!!!