My Thirst For Success And Hunger For Greatness Inspires Me -Oluwafemi Adekanye
Oluwafemi Adekanye who goes by the stage name, Big Z is one of the young actors in the Nigerian movie industry popularly known as Nollywood. The highly talented actor who is a graduate of Performing Arts from the University of Ilorin is poised to make a name for himself with his skills in Nollywood. And his growing fan base is a testament to his growing popularity.
His quest and passion for entertainment, especially movie production has been his driving force despite all the challenges he encountered while starting out in the industry. Aside from acting, he is also a director and a script writer.
Speaking about his foray into the make believe world, the challenges and resistance he faced while starting out, “One of the challenges I faced when I started was not being able to speak Yoruba properly. But over time I was able to polish my Yoruba. Now I can speak it properly. Another challenge that I faced was trying to convince the directors of my acting skills because they didn’t know what I’m capable of doing at the time. Another one was because I speak more English and some of the directors and the production managers felt I may not be able to speak properly, but I was able to prove them wrong. And lastly, I had issues traveling across the state then to act because I was not mobile (no car) so it was difficult for me moving from one place to the other but now things are different”.
On acceptance by the industry, “I was lucky enough to get accepted easily in the industry because I have what it takes as an actor in terms of good physique, stage presence and most importantly respect. Because the Yoruba movie industry is based on respect and I gave respect to everyone I met there regardless of whether I am older than you or not. So it was easy for them to accept me”.
Shedding light on the toughest role he had played so far, Oluwafemi Adekanye has this to say, “I think my toughest role so far would be AFESONA because it’s an epic movie and I had to play the role of a Prince who turned king. It was tough because I had to speak all my dialect in typical Yoruba language which was tough for me. Because it has a lot of incantations, adages and serious ancient Yoruba language. But after much practice, I was able to interpret it well. Even the producers and the directors were impressed at the end of the production”.
Speaking about where he derives inspirations and his role models in the industry, “What inspires me is my thirst for success and my hunger for greatness. I want to be the best in everything I do. And my mom also is a form of inspiration for me because I really want to make her proud. I have few role models such as Denzel Washington, Tyler Perry, Idris Elba, Richard Mofe damijo, Francis Duru, Olu Jacobs, Ramsey Noah, Odunlade Adekola, Muyiwa Ademola, Itele, Lateef Adedimeji, Ibrahim Chattah, Wumi Toriola, I listed these names because they inspire me with their tenacity and hard work, and they have also proven that hard work pays”.
When asked about what he considered to be the biggest challenge facing the Nigerian movie industry, “It’s piracy! Piracy is a big menace to the movie industry. It’s sad enough to see people trying to copy what you’ve used your hard earned money to produce. It has always been a major challenge for us in the industry. I just feel people should stop this piracy of a thing because it’s killing the craft and making people’s effort and sweat to be in vain,” he stated.
He had starred in quite a number of movie productions such as: African Magic – Dear Future Me, Itura, Venge and Ajoche. YouTube Movies – Till The Dust Settles, Love Intentional, AFESONA, Ibasepo, Adehun (Agreement), Ile Aiwo, Baba Kekere, Ife Airotele, Nifemi, Elege, Baddie of Lele, Ire Ife, Asoni, Temisan, Alaya Pupo, Different Stroke For Different Folks, Oba Koshoro, Ife Oju, My Perfect Man, Cracks, Against Creation, Quick Sand, etc.
