I regret dating Yomi Ogunmola

Published: Saturday, 9 Aug 2008

She broke into acting through the popular TV comedy series, Papa Ajasco. But she is now a reputed Yoruba actress even though she is not a Yoruba by birth. Doris Simeon-Ademinokan speaks about her transition and relationships in this interview with ADEOLA BALOGUN.

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Adeola Balogun

Doris Simeon-Ademinokan

You look too quiet for the acting profession.

I can be quiet, but when I have to do my work, it is a different ball game.

If I am a film director and scouting for an actress, I may not look your way…

I talk and play with the people I move and work with. At locations, you would see me in my elements. At times I even look for trouble. I play a lot. I remember it was a friend of mine who said I looked like someone that could act. In fact, one of them drew my attention to the audition of Papa Ajasco and I went for that. I used to watch a lot of movies.

As an introvert, why did you choose acting?

I love entertainment a lot. It is something I have a passion for. Actually, before I got into the movie industry, I had it in mind that I wanted to be behind the camera. I wanted people to know me only by name. But as it turned out, instead of being behind the camera, I am working in front of it.

How did it turn out that way?

I started with Papa Ajasco and Company, and it was on that set that I met the late Yomi Ogunmola who introduced me to the Yoruba movie industry. That was how it started.

How many episodes did you take part in, in Papa Ajasco?

I did about three episodes before I left.

Where are you from?

I am from Edo State.

And you act in Yoruba films?

I was born and bred in Lagos. You can call me a Lagos girl. I can speak Yoruba very well.

What of the idioms and proverbs?

The proverbs I know are the ones I learn from my directors. Again, I speak Eko Yoruba quite well. I don’t have any problem with the language.

Why do you concentrate on Yoruba films?

I have done a couple of English movies and some television series and soaps.

But you are more popular in the Yoruba films.

That is because they call me more for jobs.

What was your first outing like in Papa Ajasco?

It was kind of scaring. Before I went in, I had heard a lot about Antar Laniyan as a very strict and wicked man on set. That if you didn’t do what he told you to do, he would ask you to get out. I was so scared before I got on set. Fortunately, when I got on set, it was Yomi Ogunmola that was directing. I felt a kind of relief, though when I got in front of the camera, I felt very intimidated. But I tried to do my best by not missing my lines. I prayed that I would not make any mistake that would warrant the director to shout at me, because I get confused when anyone shouts at me. That is my weakness.

Couldn’t it be that you went into acting because you couldn’t find something else to do?

No, it wasn’t like that. I really love it. It is something I have a passion for. That was why I went to a film training school after leaving secondary school.

Which film would you say brought you to the limelight?

I think it was Oloju Ede, which I did with Pasuma about seven years ago.

Why did you keep a low profile until recently?

Like I said, I am a very careful person. I don’t want to do anything to tarnish my name and my family. When I wanted to go into the movie industry, my parents called me and admonished me to be wary of the ugly stories about the industry, that I should always remember the kind of home I came from, that people in the industry were public figures who didn’t have privacy. I have been guided by that. So, when I got out there, I learn to be careful, because people would always talk about you, for good or for evil.

And do you think you have been careful enough?

I think so.

You were too young when you started.

I wasn’t too young.

I said so because of your weakness in the area of dating those that you worked with.

I don’t think so.

You dated the late Yomi Ogunmola who brought you into the film industry, and you met your present husband on set too. Were you doing that to get a role?

It is not like that. I started about eight years ago. When I dated Yomi Ogunmola, I did not do that to get a role. Although I later regretted dating him, because he was married then. I felt so bad about it later. Before he died, the relationship had ended. We just dated because of our closeness to each other. It was not that he asked me out with a promise to give me a role in a movie. In fact, while I did the first three movies with him, he didn’t ask me out. He just saw me and asked whether I could speak Yoruba well to star in movies. That was it. It was not like, ‘If you don’t go out with me, I won’t give you a role.’ Again, I had been working all through before I met my husband.

But you met him on set too…

We met on set, but it was also like the first one.

Then I was correct when I said you are weak in the area of dating those you work with…

I have worked with so many people, so many directors and producers, and I didn’t date them. It was all about interest.

Probably, you had a dream of getting married to someone in the industry…

It just happened that way. Maybe that was how God wanted it to happen.

But you knew that Yomi Ogunmola was married before you dated him?

Well, when we started, I didn’t know, because we were always working from one location to another and he never went home. So, I felt he was a free person and I didn’t hear it from anyone that he was married. But when I found that he was married, I ended the relationship.

Maybe you thought he would marry you.

Not really. We never gave that a thought. Even when I met my husband, we never knew we would get married. We just started like friends until we began to get serious. I was being careful to avoid what happened to me before, so I found out everything about him.

Movie directors are reputed to be notorious when it comes to women. How did you go about your investigation?

In this industry, we talk about one another a lot. Even before I got married to my husband, I had found out everything about him and we went out for three years before we eventually got married. He is very nice and disciplined. He doesn’t date anyone he works with for fear of being disrespected. He is a professional to the core. Even as his wife, he shouts at me on set.

So, how come you started dating while you were working with him?

No, we didn’t start that way. We started as friends. We discussed a lot. And I remember that when I was contemplating producing my own movies, we discussed it together. I got to like the way he worked when I wanted him to shoot my movie. I would say that our relationship started first at the business level.

Are you not afraid that as a producer, he could one day consider marrying another woman?

I don’t have that fear. I know my husband and he trusts me too.

They say actresses are loose.

That is debatable, because not all of us are like that. People always say that, because we are public figures.

How do you handle men who would want to have a relationship with you?

I am capable of doing that. I am not an arrogant or puffy person. I respect whoever walks up to me and appreciates me. It depends on how I am approached. I will tell that person that I am married, if he is not aware.

Would you pose nude in films if the price is right?

As an African woman, I cannot pose nude. The farthest I can go is wearing a micro-mini skirt and a jumper. No matter the amount of money, I can’t pose nude.

What of romantic roles?

I do that. In fact, it was after I got married that I started doing more of that, because my husband was the one who asked me to be professional on set. He said if I had to kiss, I should do it well, because those that watched movies were not fools. He says I should do whatever my director wants and stop being a fake.

Are you saying he doesn’t feel jealous when another man romances you on set?

Not at all. In fact, I am the one that always quarrel with him, asking him why he always wants me to do something like that. In my movie, there was a scene where I was supposed to kiss Kunle Afolayan and I did the normal camera kiss. But my husband said he did not like that, that the kiss should be real, that he wanted people to watch and feel that the kissing was real. I said that was too much, but he said I should do what he asked me to do. I was so mad at him, because we had to do it like about four times before he was satisfied. He said as far as I did it on set, there was no problem, because it was my job.

Would he like you to do that in a movie he is not directing?

He once asked a director why he allowed me to fake a kissing scene and that one said it was because of his presence at the location. My husband then said the director should let me do the kissing properly, because it was my job. The director was shocked to hear that. At times, I would be angry with him because of that and he would say sorry, I have to do my job, that later, he would beg me as his wife.

Does he act too?

Yeah, once in a while.

And you don’t mind if he romances another woman on set?

No, I don’t mind.

When you met, did you tell each other about your past?

Why not? We told each other about our past before we got married. Even now, the one we didn’t remember, we say it.

You suddenly became an orphan with the recent demise of your father. How does it feel?

My brother, it was devastating. That was just about a year after my mum died. I felt so terrible, but we thank God.

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