Just when the movie viewing audience could not get enough of her she disappeared into thin air!
"Has Sola dumped acting?", was the question on the lips of many. Now she is back, doing what she knows how to do best and currently stars in a new series called 'Nectar' showing every Monday on AIT at 7:00PM with a repeat every Sunday at 9:30PM. In this exclusive interview, she talks about her absence from Nollywood, acting and more.
You've been off the movie scene for a while, are you fully back?
I never left, I only changed my base. Even when I was living in the UK, I still come home and do what I know how to do best. I still act and produce and presently, I'm developing a script.
What are you currently working on?
I'm on a soap opera called 'Nectar' and we've fully recorded up to Season 3. It is showing presently on AIT.
Are you working on any movie besides the soap?
I just finished one called 'Bose ye kori'
You've featured in over 200 films, how many of them have you produced?
I can't count, but I'll just say close to 50
You act with so much passion and conviction, what is your staying power?
First of all, I'm from a disciplined home. My late father was a retired school principal and my mom was a retired head teacher. We were taught that 'what is worth doing is worth doing well'. This is what I'm ordained to do, this is what I love doing and when you're doing something you love, you need to put in all your effort and energy. You must be focused, know your onions and know what you want to do. That is why you see me working like this.
Can you give a list of your best TV productions?
What would you say shot you to limelight?
I'm not going to say one, I would say all. You know why? Because if I don't love something, you can't find me there and I endorse what I do. It is not every script that comes to my table that I do because my own job is not for people to just come and see something that has no meaning. I get involved in stories that people would learn from and if you know me very well and have been following my stories and seen my movies, you will notice that everything I do has to do with family. I do proper drama and all this drama I do has to touch everybody; fathers, mothers, young ones, everybody. All I do is make-believe and at the same time it is what happens in our society both locally and internationally. I thank God for Super Story. A lady walked up to me in Abuja and said "Thank you very much Toyin Tomato, you saved my marriage" I said "what do you mean by that?" She said that her husband was like Suara and there was someone out there like proper Toyin Tomato that was taking him away. She then called her husband to watch Super Story and he settled down, watched, listened and saw the whole thing and he came back home. I'm very happy that I could touch that woman's life.
When I was in 'Mirror in the Sun' years back, it was popular. Village Headmaster was popular, Asewo to Re Mecca happens to be the pacesetter for home videos and then there's Super Story. I give kudos to Uncle Wale and I thank him so much for believing in me and bringing me on board for Super Story. I would say Super Story shot me to limelight because I had been working and no one had invited me out of Nigeria but with Super Story, I got an invitation to go to South Africa and Zimbabwe. It threw me everywhere; even Jamaicans saw me and said "Did you watch that show? This is Toyin Tomato".
You started acting when it was not this lucrative, have things really changed?
I will not say I started when there was no money.
But the money wasn't that high?
Yes, and today it's a shame that it is going back. We are praying to God that we need a Messiah and that is the government, they need to come in now. On our own, independently and individually, we've rebranded Nigeria. Years back, Nigeria was known as a country of 419, drug traffickers, etcetera, but when home video came, we rebranded Nigeria. They now know Nigeria for movies and drama and we are really popular, so this is a business that the Nigerian government must invest in.
Why do you think actors are paid peanuts in Nigeria?
When no one is helping and no one is sponsoring, no one wants to put their money down for anything. But abroad you see a lot of people sponsoring; corporate bodies, banks and so on. If I want to get money now, I'll have to get my friends to assist me. I don't know how to do anything else besides this. I don't have a shop, so I can't stop no matter how bad it is. That is what is happening and it's not good.That is why you see Nigerian actors and actresses dying anyhow because you see us working too hard. Nobody is taking a break from work, nobody is going on holiday.
Continue on part 2..
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