Ayobami Ayoola is a Nollywood actor. who came into limelight after winning the 2012 edition of Project Fame West Africa, before taking up the role of Mide in the web series, "Skinny Girl in Transit."
In an interesting chat with Pulse Nigeria, the actor, who currently plays Oviyon 'V' Hunyinbo in the popular Africa Magic telenovela "Jemeji," and is set to play Ladi in the upcoming Bankers NGR series, spoke about his acting career and expectations after Project Fame.
Speaking about his ability to get out of a character, Ayoola described actors as the most genuine set of people ever.
He also shared the similarities between himself and his on-screen characters Mide, Ladi and Oviyon.
Read excerpts and watch video below;
On expectations being met after Project Fame West Africa
"Everyone that comes out of a competition wants or desires huge and immediate success. You can't blame anyone for thinking that way, because, you're in a competition and everything is given to you on a platter of gold.
My expectations were very high. Were they met? Absolutely not, because if they were met, I probably would receiving Oscars and Grammy, because that was what I thought.
"Rome wasn't built in a day and it would be stupid for anyone, having gone through what they have gone through, to now give up.
No, my expectations were not met. But, am I happy, am I fulfilled? Yes. Every single day I get closer to my expectations being met."
On the characters Mide and Ladi
"Unfortunately, I can't give out so much about Ladi yet. But, is a daddy's boy and mummy's boy. Very wealthy and responsible man that knows what he wants and goes for it.
Ladi on the other hand is full of mischief. Let's just put it this way, he is the opposite of Mide, as far as work ethic is concerned. Even as far as character, he is a complete opposite of Mide. Is he likable? Is he lovable? Yes.
Is he outspoken? - I even think he is more outspoken than Mide. Is he a sucker for love? No, Ladi has more important things to worry about.
I'm just very privileged to be able to play different characters on opposite end of the spectrum."
On seeing Ayoola in any of his on-screen characters
"I saw some bits of Ayoola in Mide. I didn't even know until I would do something in reality, and I would be like 'oh okay, that's what Mide would do.'
So, now I'm not even sure if I'm now bringing Mide into my real life or the other way round. And Ladi? I think I have his stupidity inside of me me. It just takes the right situation to bring it out.
But Jemeji? No. I'm not a farmer, I'm more subtle and I think through my actions. Oviyon 'is not that kind of guy. So, I think Mide is closer [similar to Ayoola.]
On actors being the most genuine set of people
"Some people know that actors are the most genuine sets of people, so far. I'm not just saying this because I'm an actor, but because you've to be true to yourself to be able to take up another character.
If not, you will be living a life of conflict. Mixing characters that are not yours, mixing emotions that you would not deal with on a normal day. So you have to be true to yourself.
We are genuine liars. We are paid to live through the emotions that you would rather ignore. So, sometimes, it's easy for you to carry some aspects of a character into your personal life, especially, if you've gone through one or two things that the character is going through."
On carrying a character into his real life
I have a few times, carried a character into my real life, Mide being number one. I won't know how long it took me to get out of it.
There's this scene that we shot [it hasn't aired yet] that really really got to me. Even though I laughed about it after we cut and life went on, deep inside me, I was still downcast. I really don't know how long it took, but I wallowed in that for a while, then gradually came out of it.
The actor also spoke about using his social media page to influence lives among other interesting topics.