Why my father didn’t want his children take up acting – Kunle Afolayan

By Taiwo Okanlawon

Nigerian actor, producer and director Kunle Afolayan has revealed that his late father, Adeyemi Afolayan, aka AdeLove, was against his incursion into the world of films.

Afolayan is widely credited for elevating the quality of Nollywood movies through larger budgets, shooting on 35mm, releasing in cinemas, and improving cliché Nollywood.

Speaking in The Nation, Afolayan revealed that his late father, AdeLove, didn’t want any of his children to go into the world of film.

The filmmaker further said his father’s children, who are now actors, began doing so after his passing away, except for his elder sister, Moji Afolayan.

“I don’t think it was planned that we would act but I think it was natural. In Fela’s family, Seun, Femi, Made plays, even Yeni dances. They all play the same genre and they have other family members who still do stuff.

“In my family, my sister, Moji, featured in one of my father’s films before he passed on and she played my father’s daughter.

“We didn’t start until my father passed because he was completely against it at the time. He said there was no money there. He had money, he made money but it was a struggle but he felt it was not sustainable. I don’t think it was because there was no money, he had about 10 vehicles at some point but I think it was because they did not have a business plan. I’m not a typical business person. I’m being pushed by passion and the dream, not business ethics, sales projection.”

Afolayan has shot many successful films and has some of the highly rated films on one of the global streaming platforms, Netflix. Some of his movies are Figurine, Phone Swap, Citation, October 1, CEO, Ayinla, and Anikulapo, among others.