Nollywood actress and filmmaker Funke Akindele, on Saturday, January 24, disclosed that building her career required depriving herself of vacations and friendships.
Reflecting on the historic ₦2.1 billion box office milestone of her film, Behind the Scenes, the filmmaker dismissed the idea of effortless fame, noting that her record-breaking achievements were forged through years of intense discipline and hard work.
“I deprived myself of vacations, parties, events, no friends, nothing, just me and my team, working tirelessly, creating and working hard to achieve the success many now see.
“When I am on the set of my films, I am not a diva, I am everywhere and very hands-on, no wig, just on my rough corn rows, working hard and seeing that everything is in perfect order.
“I go through all that till work is done, and then we can now start preparing for marketing and all the glam and dancing.
“Every challenge that I go through, they are behind the scenes, but you know, we have to keep that smile on our faces,” she said.
Attributing her success to relentless grit, Funke revealed that her career has been shaped by a period of total immersion where she withdrew from society for three years to build her creative catalog.
“I keep the work going; it’s a lot of work, and it takes years of hard work to promote.
“When I say hard work, I mean locking myself away in Amen Estate for three years building the Jenifa brand, working on Industreet, Aiyetoro, My siblings and I, and other contents,” she added.
The filmmaker said she struggled financially and personally while promoting her previous film, Battle on Buka Street.
“When I released Battle on Buka Street, I didn’t have enough money for marketing.
“I was going through personal issues, challenges in my political career, my mum was sick, and marital issues.
“I couldn’t afford a studio, so I put a backdrop in my sitting room and danced every day.
“They don’t know the story, but I kept the fire burning,” she said.
Despite being the first filmmaker to rank number one at the box office in Africa for three consecutive years, Funke dismissed claims that her success was effortless, describing filmmaking as an all-consuming profession.
“Filmmaking is my thing, I eat and sleep filmmaking.
“Personally, I do not think about what I will make; I always think about what I want to do, how I’m going to touch lives with my storytelling,” she stated.
Funke also revealed that the film, Behind the Scenes, was not originally planned, noting that she shelved the sequel to A Tribe Called Judah to tell a more urgent story.
The filmmaker reiterated her commitment to nurturing young talent, as she is passionate about giving opportunities to upcoming actors because she understands how difficult it is to break into the industry.
Comments