FEMI OGUNTAYO recently met Nollywood actor and movie producer, Lekan Olatunji, who just celebrated his birthday in grand style. In this interview, Lekan talked about, how he rose to the top and some trending topics in the Nigerian movie industry.
I celebrated your birthday recently and it was huge. You were celebrated by your friends and fans worldwide. Reminisce on how you started in the industry; how would you describe the journey so far?
It wasn’t easy at all just like it is in every profession. I was married when I joined the industry; in fact, I was into sales of electronic products before leaving it all because I wanted to join the movie industry, then I met with my boss, Mr Portable (Olu Olowogemo). It wasn’t easy at all. The money I got from selling all my products which I put into my first production didn’t yield any profit. It was frustrating at the beginning and I have a family to fend for. But because of my consistency and my cordial relationship with some movie producers in the industry then, I started getting invitations to feature in movies.
Sometimes, I got two scenes, sometimes three scenes and my wife, parents and some of my friends didn’t like that. This complicated issues. It got to a stage when some of her friends started noticing me on their screens and they told her they saw her husband and all that. Then she started to like what I was doing. So, there was a time I became moody and she asked what happened, then I explained my ordeal at a production I went for then, which I told her was frustrating and that only when one has money for one’s own production that one could really progress fast in this industry.
She smiled and told me she was just looking at me all this while and joked that she hoped it’s not that when she assists me now and I become famous and rich on the job, I will now be feeling too big for her. Then I told her I am not like that and will never forget my family. She then asked me how much I would need for good movie production and I told her. She transferred that money into my account that night and since then, that money has been what has really helped my career grow. All my subsequent productions since then have come from the profits I made from that first major production she helped me with. I returned her money and I have been using the profits for my other productions till now that I get marketers to support my productions and all. So, I thank God, when I look back at all these and how I was celebrated recently, I just give all glory to God.
Apart from your wife, who are those people in the industry who you can say helped you grow and progress speedily in your acting career?
