Popular actress and filmmaker Omoni Oboli recently shared how, in the early days of her career, she traded her scripts for acting roles.
Speaking in an interview on Radionow FM, she revealed what inspired her shift from acting to directing.
Omoni explained that after watching the movies she acted in, she realized her creative vision wasn’t being fully captured on screen. This motivated her to become a director and take control of her stories.
“I used to trade my scripts for roles,” she said. “I would tell them, ‘You don’t have to pay me, just give me a part in the film.’”
However, when she watched the finished movies, they were often quite different from what she had imagined while writing. “I write in pictures,” Omoni explained.
“So, when I see the film and it doesn’t match what I had in mind, it can be disappointing.”
While acknowledging that every director has their own style, she decided that if her stories were going to truly reflect her vision, she would have to direct them herself.
“It was a scary thought,” she admitted. “But I reminded myself, ‘Warri no dey carry last,’ meaning, I can do this just as well as anyone else.”
Omoni then began studying directors while on set, learning from their work while acting. She eventually took a short course at the New York Film Academy to get more formal training in filmmaking.
And today she is one of the best directors in Nollywood!
