On the debut episode of her new show, “Who’s in My House,” YouTuber and content creator Hawa Magaji is joined by Nigerian actress Bimbo Ademoye.
In this episode, Bimbo discusses her journey thus far, including her connection with her father, her first acting audition, overcoming depression, her special code-switching skills, upcoming projects, her sister’s support, the beautiful people who are on her side, and much more.
On Acting:
“My first audition was in 2013 but I got my first feature film in 2014. I did a series in 2015 but my first feature film that I was sure wasn’t going to die in a harddrive, that I was sure was going to come out on a platform, shout-out to Iroko TV, it was in 2016.”
On how supportive her dad has been:
“I remember the conversation vividly actually in his car, in school back in 2007. You know this form that you fill when they say first course, second course? Yeah, he was like, what are you trying to study and I said Theatre Arts. He was like oh, second nkor? I said Theatre Arts. He said, no you have to change and I said fine, English Language (as second choice). I studied Business Administration because Covenant University didn’t offer Theatre Arts as a course. But once I had that conversation with my dad, he was like that’s what you want? I am behind you. My dad financed everything. My first ever acting gig, they told me they were going to pay me N12,500 and they were going to pay me six months after shooting. My dad paid for my shooting budget of N50,000 during the shoot.”
On the greatest challenge she faced in the industry:
“I think I have been lucky because starting out, I started under the wings of a female. That’s Uduak Isong. So I didn’t really experience, not that I didn’t, but it didn’t affect me in anyway like the sexual harassment that people do talk about. You know, this person saying you have to sleep with me for a role. I mean, my mom (Uduak Isong) didn’t need me to see her. She saw the talent and she went for it. So, that aspect, nothing. I tend to always dwell on the positive aspect than to look at maybe if anybody is envious or anybody is trying to like sabotage or whatnot so I wouldn’t say I have had any challenge in my career like that. I mean, there are times that behaviors of people have gotten to me but I just waved it off like at the end of the day, you don’t share my last name so there’s no reason for you to be loyal to me or anything like that.
On self esteem:
I used to have a lot of self esteem issues growing up. You know, from not being with my parents together. I grew up with these thoughts in my head that nobody wanted to be my friend. Nobody wanted to, I am going to get emotional. Nobody wanted to be around me so my way of having friends were to give things like buy them over you know. In elementary school, it was like, I had to give my lunch money, in high school, I had to give my provisions to and some of these kids saw through that. I didn’t have any self esteem at all. It wasn’t a case of low self esteem. It wasn’t there. So, being in the midst of people and having them come say hi, I was like, what do you want, just say what you want let me give it to you so you can go. I am still dealing with that even at this stage and that’s why I am very close to my dad because my dad was really big on helping me with that. I wet the bed for like a very long time, I am talking till like SS2, SS3 and my dad would laugh it off and be like hey! my pikin o! just to make me feel better. So I don’t like human beings like that because I feel like they are full of shit based off of my experience. Most times, I just like to be by myself because the people I trust are not always around because of my job and status. I’d rather not deal with the hurt that people tend to bring. I’d rather just be on my own and just be around the few people I have given access to me.
Watch the full interview below:
