Nollywood actress Omowunmi Dada is a very versatile actress. And although these days, she’s more popularly known for playing sweeter, more innocent roles, Omowunmi in the course of her career has actually played a diverse number of roles including playing the role of a female boxer in the movie Moremi.
In preparation for the movie, Omowunmi of course had to herself train to become a boxer, and now, during a new interview with MTN’s Y’ello Couch, Omowunmi Dada narrates her bitter experience during the training of the movie, recounting how another female boxer beat her to the point of tears. Here’s what Omowunmi Dada had to say.
During the interview, Omowunmi Dada was asked “What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve done for a role?” That’s when she opened up about her story as a boxer saying:
OMOWUNMI DADA: Oh my God! The first one is a movie titled Moremi where I was a boxer and I trained.
This was maybe 2015 or so. I trained as a boxer and I remember that the very first time, no the very first week I got into the gym, where my my coach was training me; right that weekend of that week, my coach organized like this sparring session and professional boxers were there and all that. He wanted me to have that sparring experience so he then said Omowunmi, you’re going to spar with this lady.
I don’t know what happened to that lady at maybe the last match or boxing fight she had, maybe they beat her blue black and she was really really keen on y’know, she had to renew her image; people had to know that she’s a badass fighter. Me, I’m an actor. They’ve not really taught me so much.
That’s how I got into the ring with this lady, this lady started beating me. I mean she beat me and you know because it was literally my first week, I didn’t really have the skill to defend myself. And for the first time in my life, I felt like a failure. I cried and I was like I’m not doing this film again, I’m not doing, I can’t do this anymore, I can’t.
Yeah, that was a crazy experience because they told that girl that I wasn’t a boxer, they told her I was an actor, but she just wanted to beat me.