How Crying On Screen Made Me Stand Out — Adedimeji

Actor and filmmaker Lateef Adedimeji has disclosed that shedding tears on screen early in his career was a deliberate move to carve out a niche for himself in Nollywood.

Speaking on The Morayo Show, he said breaking into the industry was tough, and he needed a distinct quality that would make viewers remember him.

Adedimeji noted that when he started out, people mostly recognised him because he looked like a senior colleague.

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While he valued the comparison, he said he wanted an identity that was entirely his own.

“When I came into the industry, it was quite challenging. I resembled one of my senior colleagues whom I love so much. People would say, ‘That guy who resembles Odun, Odun’s brother.’ It was a beautiful thing because they were comparing me to someone great, but at the same time, as a practitioner, people need to know you for something of you,” he said.

He added that he took time to study the industry and spot areas that were not getting enough attention but still mattered. That led him to focus on emotional performances.

“So I had to sit, did a lot of research, I asked myself, ‘What is it that people are not paying much attention to that is still important?’ So if I were given a role where I only had to shed tears for two seconds, I would mount pressure on it and make those tears come well,” he said.

The strategy paid off, and viewers began to associate him with that skill. It even earned him a nickname.

“So at one point, people started calling me a crying machine. They didn’t know my name, but they would say, ‘That guy who cries so much in movies’ when describing me.

“That was when I knew I was getting somewhere because people were beginning to identify me with something that is of me; then, eventually, you get to know my name,” he said.

BY ABDULBAQI JIBREEL AJAO