Adesua Etomi, who is popular for "Falling," "Knocking on Heaven's Door," "Soldier's Story," recently had an interesting chat with Pulse Nigeria,
In
the interview, the actress spoke on her acting career, how she gets
into character, Nollywood being fair to newcomers, hardest movie role
ever, and more.
On acting career;
“When
I actually got to the UK, I was actually meant to go into the sciences
and do Medicine and all that. But as God would have it, I failed one
subject I was supposed to pass.
I was having this meeting with my Guidance Counselor and I was like “I really don’t wanna do this, I actually want to act.”
So
the Guidance Counselor called my mum, so we have this meeting where I
was like “mummy, it’s actually acting I want to do.” Imagine telling an
African woman that you want to be an actress.
It’s
actually amazing because my mum took it so well. She was behind me a
hundred percent. “If not for my mother, I wouldn’t be acting, I would
probably be in a hospital somewhere."
On first time on set;
Now,
“Knocking on Heaven’s Door” was my very first film in my entire life.
I’m theatre trained, so, I hadn’t had an experience being on set. So
that was my very first time being on set.
A
lot of what I know today, I learnt on the set of “Knocking on Heaven’s
Door.” I also learnt about how acting for film is a lot more subtle than
acting on stage. It was an emotional roller-coaster for me, because,
shooting back to back everyday for three weeks was very tasking, very
draining, but it was also very extremely fulfilling.
On hardest movie role;
“In
terms of how hard a role is, I don’t think there is any simple role.
Even in the somewhat simple role, you will find a lot of complexity in
the character. So , I don’t know that I have had any role that’s not
hard.
But, in terms of how tasking and
the amount of time I would have had to prepare for a role, and the
amount of time it took to shoot, then that would be “Four Lane.”
I
started filming on January 5 (2015). It was very tasking for me,
because that was the first time I had shot a film in such a small space
of time. I shot that in 9 days, and I was an emotional wreck because one
scene I’m happy, the very next scene, I’m sad, and some days we could
shoot 17 scenes. It was crazy, but it was good to know I could actually
do that.”
On greatest influencer;
"Meryl" Streep. Because I want to be her. There’s nothing on this planet Meryl can’t do. There’s no character she can’t morph into.
I’m
an actor, I want to be able to play any role. If I’m to play a dude
tomorrow, I want to be able to do that, and she just morphs.
Meryl
is the epitome of performance. She’s absolutely amazing. Any
performance she finds herself in, she just kills it. And that’s the kind
of person I want to be. I want to totally dominate the world of
performance, and who better to emulate than Meryl Streep, the queen of
the big screen."
On Nollywood being fair to newcomers;
I
would say yes, and I would explain why. I would say yes because there
are opportunities coming up everyday, and if they didn’t give
opportunities to newcomers, I wouldn’t be here.
Let’s
be very honest, I haven’t been in the industry for a long time. I moved
back in 2012, started acting in 2013, and two years after, I have done
so many film projects. If they didn’t give opportunities to newcomers, I
wouldn’t be here.
I think everyday
Nollywood is creating opportunities where young, talented, upcoming
actors are given a chance to prove themselves. And I think as the years
go by, it would get a lot better.
On getting into character;
"I read the script a lot first of all, I need to understand the character that I’m playing. I do a lot of research.
I
write out my character’s thoughts, how she’s feeling in each moment,
what she’s thinking with each line the person I’m playing opposite says
to her.
So my mind is constantly working.
I write all these little notes by the side. I constantly go back and
re-evaluate those notes, because the more you read, the more you
understand, and the more ideas pop up, and you almost become that
person."