DESMOND ELLIOT: WHY I HID MY YORUBA IDENTITY FROM NOLLYWOOD
With countless number of movies and several accolades to his name, Olusola Desmond Elliot, better known as Desmond Elliot ranks as one of the finest Nollywood stars. He also recently won an electoral seat to represent Surulere Constituency in the Lagos St
What was your reaction to the suspicion that greeted your third name, Olusola prior to the last general elections?
Some people wanted to know where the name Olusola came from, but all that is gone now. It was an election to be determined by people in my constituency and they were the ones who know me from home. So, I wasn’t really bothered by what people were saying. I am born of a Yoruba father, my mother is an Igbo, I grew up in the north and my wife is from Akwa Ibom. The beauty of having a mixed background is that it is also helpful in the field of filmmaking and acting that I chose.
Why did you hide your Yoruba identity all along?
They called me Sola at home but I realised most producers then were from the East and I felt that using Sola could make things difficult. I didn’t really understand why I decided to use Desmond at that point. It is not a stage name; it is my English name. That was how Sola Elliot changed to Desmond Eliot. If anyone calls me Sola now, I know the person knows me from home but if I hear Desmond, I know it is when I started acting.
You studied Economics for your first Degree. How did acting came into the picture?
It all started in 1999 after I have done few modeling jobs. My mother would say ‘Sola you go out every day, we’ve not seen money and we’ve not seen films. What do you go out to do’? I just kept telling her it would be fine. But my father had serious faith and confidence in me. I kept looking for opportunities in movies endlessly and in 1999-2000, I got a Tom-Tom (candy) commercial job. I was picked last. I was very skinny and rough; it was obvious I was hungry. I saw that as a favour from God and that actually gave me hope because I was paid well. It was a Tom- Tom’s zebra crossing commercial. Though it wasn’t good like that, I kept pushing on with the mind-set that I would get the chance. Then, I got a chance to star in my first movie produced by Emeka Ani. He told me and my friend, Tuvi James, to decide who between us should be part of the production. The character was to play about three scenes. I and Tuvi were not too close, but I pleaded with him because he had been featuring in productions. We struggled about it a bit and my promise to him was that in the future I would pay him back. It was just the hope that someday I would return it and that was a sincere promise. The tittle of the movie was ‘The Challenge’ and I went to set every day to see how things were done since I had no idea how it worked.
What was the reassurance that you will definitely make a living from acting?
I took a conscious effort to work on myself, which I started with seeing foreign movies. I selected mentors like Denzel and Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD) and it worked for me. I watched almost all the Denzel’s movies and I worked with the mirror too. I saw that even when you see Indian and American films, the actors are always beautiful. It is not everyone’s perception; this is mine.
We have seen a lot of actors also directing award winning movies. At what point did you feel it was time to go into directing?
One of my greatest mentors in directing, Lancelot Imaseun, had his 20 years anniversary recently. At the ceremony, he said after studying acting in the university, he looked at the mirror and asked if he could compete with the likes of Fred Amata, Bob Manuel and others. He then advised himself that it was possible to make it in the profession, but not in front of the camera. I also saw the need to learn more and went to study presenting and acting. I was fortunate to have Bimbo Oloyede as the facilitator for my presentation and RMD as my facilitator for acting. This was the best time of my life. I had met RMD in the University of Jos in 1997 when he came to do the première of ‘Violated’. It became so bad that when I concluded the work, I was totally Richard because I had so imbibed myself in it. What moment will you point at as your breakthrough moment? That was in 2003, almost four years after I ventured into acting. I started as an extra character, but that wasn’t my focus. I was only interested in getting the roles first and hopefully I would get a break. I didn’t stop praying and the opportunity came in. That fateful year, I got a role in ‘Missing Angel’ directed by Charles Novia, and that changed my life forever. The production looked like a joke to me because it lasted for just six days.
Do you see any of your kids going into acting following the successes you have achieved?
I don’t think my two sons (Denzel and Desmond) are ready for that now. Seriously, the eldest one is a no-no. Four years ago, we were on a set and we needed a kid for like five scenes. I asked them if they would love to play the roles and they said yes. I gave them the script and I was so excited. Uche Jombo was on the set as well. Then, they brought them from school and I was already asking them to pull off their uniform. It was Denzel we needed to act and he started shaking his head. I asked what the problem was and he said he wasn’t interested in it again. Everyone was all ready and I went to whisper to him that he shouldn’t disgrace me. He insisted he wanted to go play outside even when I told him that any child would jump at the opportunity. I have never felt embarrassed like that in my life.
Does that imply they can’t change their views about acting in the future?
It is their choice to make but I am beginning to see acting talent in my girl and I am begging her seriously. I can’t be going through all these and one of my children won’t enjoy it.
What is your view about Nollywood now compared to when started?
We are at a point that everything looks shaky and many productions are not going really well anymore but this industry will get better. I hear that these days, that you even need to pay to be featured in a movie as a rising actor. I stand to be corrected, but I just came back from Mauritius where we talked about it. It was never like this when we started, but there is hope. You run your film production outfit alongside your wife…. (Cuts In) I handle the production part while she works in the distribution of the films. She is doing a good work and we now have stores across Nigeria. Everything seems to be going fine, but there is now discord as a result of some greedy people and I discover most of the people who haven’t done much are the ones trying to mess things up. But I thank God I am now in a position to correct things. When I recently called a meeting of stakeholders, people I thought were serious-minded wanted to start again and I cautioned them.
One of your films ‘Rosemary’s Fight’ was greatly affected by piracy. How did you manage it?
The movie was released on a Friday but we started seeing the pirated copies in the market on Monday. I was getting ready for work that Monday morning and I saw my wife crying. She told me that our film has been pirated and people were buying the pirated ones. How sad! 30 Days in Atlanta was pirated before the film even left the cinema. These pirates are protected by people who are supposed to protect the right things.
What do you think is the best way to curb this menace?
Though there is Iroko TV, DStv and cinemas, they are only meant to compliment DVD sales. The cinema is a very good revenue stream for the industry and30 Days in Atlanta raked in almost N200 million in the cinema with only 35 screens. Just imagine we had 200 screens but government doesn’t think about that. It has gotten to the level that individuals cannot handle it anymore, so I am happy I am here now. What I have done is to bring in a lot of colleagues on board and they are very interested. We can get the executive to understand that a lot of money is going away from this. So beyond piracy, there are other revenue streams like I mentioned, but it cannot be compared with what DVD gives to you.
You currently represent Surulere Constituency in the Lagos House of Assembly. How challenging are your roles?
It is a privilege to be a member and my job is to represent the people of Surulere in the House. My job is to represent them and present the need of the people before the House. I have started doing some of these things already and it has been time consuming as well as fun. It is not much of a challenge because it is what I enjoy to do.