Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje has lauded Genevieve Nnaji’s acting abilities saying she is an authentic actress that fits the role of his mother.

Speaking in Lagos during the promotion of his directorial debut, ‘Farming’, Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who plays the role of ‘Kurse’ in Marvel studio’s ‘Thor: The Dark World,’ says he had two reasons for casting Genevieve Nnaji for the role of his mum in his film, ‘Farming’.

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“Two reasons creatively. It's always been my ambition to marry Hollywood, Nollywood, and I felt that I could be a bridge. And I always wanted to give a platform to some of the great talents that we have here on a bigger stage. And again, creatively, you know, I've grown up watching Genevieve and I wanted an authentic Nigerian actress to play my Nigerian mother in the movie. And for me at that time, you know, Genevieve was the perfect actress to play that. So I fought hard to put her in and I'm so glad that you know she accepted but that Hollywood embraced her and her performance which is fantastic,” he enthused.

On how and why he cast Kate Beckingsale and Damon Idris alongside Nnaji, Akinnuoye-Agbaje said, “What helped the casting process is number one, you know, they were playing people that I knew. And number two, you know, as an actor, I kind of knew how to elicit what it is I was looking for from them.”

Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who had earlier featured in ‘Matrix’ alongside Matt Damon said having Genevieve Nnaji in his directorial debut is one of the sweetest triumphs he’s had with ‘Farming’.

“So, to me, that was one of the sweetest triumphs. You know, marrying Hollywood, Nollywood, and bringing one of our stars on the big Hollywood platform. So I can't be happier. It's a dream of mine to marry the two, you know industries and we've got to do that with her performance and also for the young Nigerian filmmaker as well. 

“So not only in front of the screen, but also behind the screen of higher young Nigerian filmmaker, Baba Agba, who's from here, and he did some of the Nigerian footage for the film. You know, they were happy that I was able to incorporate some of our people on the big stage,” the actor and director says.

Farming was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018 alongside Genevieve's directorial debut, 'Lionsheart'. The film has gone ahead to win awards at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival. The film will start screening in Nigeria after a private screening on Saturday, October 19, 2019.