In an interview with Tega Salubi, Nollywood actor Abayomi Alvin, who received a huge break when he was cast as Austin in the well-liked series Jenifa’s Diary, talks candidly about the advice Funke Akindele gave him about being a good boy in Nollywood, advice he still clings to today. This is what Abayomi Alvin said.
During his interview, when Abayomi Alvin was asked “Would you say that your looks helped you? You were and you’re still a fine boy now, so would you say your looks contributed to your success in your career?” He responded saying:
ABAYOMI ALVIN: Yeah, I mean definitely it did. But not the only thing.
I mean, if it was about being fine, there’s a lot of finer people. It’s a lot of good looking people in the industry and some even still trying to get into the industry. But at some point your talent just needs to speak out and it’s one thing.
So that’s how he now introduced me to her as a screenwriter and she was like you write? I’m like yeah, I write. She said oh we’re looking for new writers on Jenifa’s Diary, come on board. That’s how I came on board again on Jenifa’s Diary but now as a writer. And while I was writing for them, of course they brought back my character as well.
And one of the very good advice I got from her then which I still hold on to now, she must have forgotten is: she was like dude, you need to up your game. If it’s about being fine, if you think you’re the finest right now, trust me, there are way much more finer people. But what will stand you out out of this crowd is your talent. What will make them want to give you this role over this other fine person is your talent. So if you really want to be that A-list actor, if you want to be that actor that everybody’s talking about and not just some random fine boy that’s just getting roles, you need to up your game.
And since then, I held on to that.