Princess Allwell Ademola is a woman many know for many things. Not only does she act, she sings, produces films, and works in practically every sector of filmmaking. But as a person, she prefers to be known as an entertainer. In this interview, she addresses age-long perceptions that insist that many actresses are not paid well enough to live the kind of lives people see. In addition, she shares the story of her life, while stating that Nollywood remains home to all. ROTIMI IGE brings excerpts.
Do you think Nollywood is home for everybody that started in it?
Yes, because the truth of the matter is; filming is a way of life. The moment you start it, you don’t have another life apart from that thing you do which is filmmaking. It’s just like you living outside your life, you can’t live out of your life. You live in your life, so you cannot leave what gives you life. As far as I am concerned, filming gives us life.
How do you best liked to be described?
An entertainer.
Did you start out as an actor?
I started as an actor as a child but my father never supported it, I got tired and I started singing. My father supported singing. Then I got into stage productions; it was easier for me because of school; I had started doing stage productions and then from there at the NCAC, I joined Nollywood in 1992.
What did your father have against acting?
My father never accepted any but he had to agree for one. And because of the news going on about actors then, people seeing them as never-do-wells. So because of that he never really supported acting. He is a prince and I’m a princess, so he feels that royalty shouldn’t entertain. But entertainers are meant to entertain royalty. So, because I am royalty, I shouldn’t entertain, that was the problem he had with it.
Do you think female actors get paid really well?
I don’t know how to answer that but I get paid and it is enough to make ends meet. I live within my means, I am comfortable; I eat what I want to eat, I wear what I want to wear, I live where I love to live. And I get it all from filmmaking.
I notice you’ve acted a number of movies with Funsho Adeolu. In an interview, he said some actresses don’t get paid well. What can you say about that?
Well, I have worked with him several times like you said. We all have a right to our opinion. Funsho is my friend, and like I said, I get paid and if he says he is being paid well, then yes; he is being paid well. It’s now left for him to explain why he feels that actresses are not well paid. I can’t say that actresses are not well paid because I want to stand in gap for as many actresses that I know. I am well paid, so definitely they are well paid as well. And sometimes people judge from what they see; because you have a neighbour that steals meat from the pot doesn’t mean that everybody steals meat from the pot.
As a producer, is there any disparity between what you pay your male and female actors?
There is nothing like paying male actors better than female actors. We have grades; we have A-list actors, we have B-list actors. So, maybe the female actors he knows are no-list actors. Maybe. But if he is on a movie set with the likes of Mide Martins, you won’t expect that I will pay him better, because Mide is an A-list actor.
Do you think our movies have lost something by the move from VHS to online streaming?
The truth of the matter is; if we don’t have the VCD player, why then do we produce the CDs. We still have these players just that they are in remote villages. People in the villages don’t have the opportunity to get phones. The problem is people don’t get to buy it in Lagos, so if marketers use to produce 30,000 pieces before now, because people don’t get to buy it, they have places they sell them to; remote villages, so they will just do maybe 5,000 copies. So, we still have it, just that it is not in Lagos and of course you don’t expect to be carrying DVD players around.
What do you think is the solution to that?
There is no solution to it. In life, things evolve. New things come and you don’t have a choice other than to just let go of the old things. There is no solution to it.
What is your relationship with Rotimi Salami?
He is my brother and my business partner.
You said you lost your fiancé in an earlier interview and that’s why you didn’t marry then because of the trauma, have you gotten over it?
Yes. I have. He was the only man I knew then. We were together for eight years. I used him as yardstick for so many guys that came then.
What do you think is the next level for Nollywood?
We are competing with Hollywood.You haven’t seen anything yet.
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