Femi Adebayo is undoubtedly one of the most sought-after actors, producers and directors, who has acted in well over 150 movies that cut across both the English and Yoruba genres. Mr. Indigenous, as he is mostly called following the several successful epic movies from his production outfit, has become a phenomenon. In this interview with MUTIAT LAWORE, Adebayo spoke about his evolvement over time, why he focused on producing epic movies, his upcoming plans among others. Excerpts:

What is the next big step for you as an actor and a producer?
I’ve made people see the cultural part of Femi Adebayo. I want to make people see the total sophisticated part of Femi Adebayo, like a guy that was born in the States and does not know how to speak Yoruba. As a producer, I need to make it clear to people that I am a producer, not an epic film producer and not an epic actor or a comedian. Of course, we’re working towards that, but we have to own the space, get it locked, before we move on.

The characters you play and are known for changed at a time, why the seeming sudden switch?
I had it all planned out. As an actor, I realised that many producers were using me, either as a lover boy then, or a wife beater, but I wanted people to see my versatility. I can play any role, and I used the opportunity I had as a producer to always produce my movies with different characters. That was why I started with ‘Jelili,’ and then ‘Sonto Alapata.’ It was different. I came up with ‘Etiko Onigedu,’ which was also totally different.
I had a focus, and that took me to the big screen when I had the opportunity. I wanted to get the recognition internationally and I took my time to study the content we make from Africa. A content that you make from Africa that is not indigenous doesn’t get that international attraction. I felt that telling our stories, well packaged, with international standard, would get the attention that I needed and that was why I decided to start producing epic movies that have our own story on a big scale, though it was a risk. Nigerians usually do not appreciate their own things, but that was the risk I took in ‘Ageshinkole’. To God be the glory, it was appreciated, and almost everybody is taking that route now.

Do you think you would have achieved the same level of success today if you had played them years ago?
We improve every day, but I can tell you that as an actor, I would have achieved the same thing back then. For the business part, I might not be able to say yes. We’re getting more recognition internationally by having platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and the rest, and our contents are getting appreciated and that gave me the courage to risk that kind of investment in ‘Ageshinkole.’ That does not mean that if I act Ageshinkole now, I might not do better. Obviously, I would do better, we improve everyday, but I can tell you that if I acted it then, it would still have been appreciated. Tell me to come and do ‘Jelili’ now, I would do it better.

Was it intentional to have Yoruba remain the sole language in your epic films?
If I produce Yoruba content in English Language, then I have failed to produce that culture that I want to tell the entire world about. When we were young, we saw many Indian films in their language and we loved them, we have not stopped till now. So why can’t I sell my own language to the world? If my movie is not going to be full Yoruba, it’s not full Yoruba, but I’m telling a Yoruba story. It’s just like coming up with something like ‘House of Gaa’ that Bolanle Austen-Peters did in English Language, it won’t have that originality like it does now. I saw ‘Afamefuna,’ it was an Igbo film. I appreciated it because it was purely done in Igbo language and that was not even full Igbo epic. Imagine if they did an Igbo epic in that kind of language; you would appreciate it more.

What are your plans for the sequel of ‘Jagun Jagun’?
The appearance of Ibrahim Chatta at the end of ‘Jagun Jagun’ was a signal for a sequel, true. What I can tell you is that the sequel is not a series, it’s gonna be just a feature film, and by God’s grace it should be out next year. It’s a Netflix original film. I actually don’t have the power to determine when exactly it is coming, but as a producer, I can say it is coming up next year, though I have a project that is bigger than ‘Jagun Jagun’ that is coming this year.

How do you feel when your film is nominated or even wins an award?
That’s the greatest nightmare I have in my career, success. I keep wondering, how do I maintain that? How do I grow? It keeps me up at night. However, I also see it as the motivation I need to do more. When I get the accolades, they keep me on my toes. After ‘Ageshinkole,’ what am I going to do again? Fortunately, I had ‘Jagun Jagun’ script before I had ‘Ageshinkole’ script, but ‘Jagun Jagun’ is bigger than ‘Ageshinkole.’ I did a test run with ‘Ageshinkole’ in terms of investment. So, it’s a great motivation for me when I get accolades. If you could recollect, all I was saying on the AMVCA stage was “thank you, we are coming stronger.”

How did your father, Oga Bello, impact you in becoming an actor?
His impact was indirect, he wasn’t expressive. We see models in our parents, and that was how he indirectly inspired me to decide that I wanted to be an actor. He would expressly tell us to study whatever we wished to study. I have four of my siblings in the entertainment industry now, and none of us studied theatre arts. That is to tell you that he would never influence you to come into the entertainment world. It was after I graduated with my first and second degrees that I started having educational qualifications in this field.

Could you give more details about your next project and your reason for making it?
I took it upon myself that as a Yoruba man, I want the entire world to know about my culture and I have a platform to do that, which is creating content. If I produce 10 films, I’ll prefer six of them to be indigenous content as a promoter of culture. The next movie that I said is bigger than ‘Jagun Jagun’ is titled; ‘Seven Doors’ and it’s set in two eras, the 18th century and the 19th century, which means we have the old-school setting, where we have old Peugeot 504s, Volkswagens of those days and it also takes us back to that kind of ‘Jagun Jagun’ setting. It’s mixed and it features multiple tribes. It is about a Yoruba king married to an Igbo woman, with a Hausa man coming to invest. It plays around Nigerian culture.
For ‘Seven Doors,’ we are done with the post-production. I had co-directors, so I wasn’t the only one calling the shots. Directing the movie was more tasking for me, but it was more fulfilling.

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