What I was up to before lockdown – Tope Tedela
This award-winning actor was on a film project most likely to make headlines in the coming months when the coronavirus pandemic resulted in his city’s lockdown. Nollywood actor and producer, Tope Tedela, has said he was part of a Netflix Original film before lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Tedela, who described the project […]
Tope Tedela
This award-winning actor was on a film project most likely to make headlines in the coming months when the coronavirus pandemic resulted in his city’s lockdown.
Nollywood actor and producer, Tope Tedela, has said he was part of a Netflix Original film before lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Tedela, who described the project as Nigeria’s first Netflix Original, said shooting had just commenced when lockdown was announced in some parts of Nigeria, including Lagos where he resides.
The actor, known for his role in films like the TV show ‘Oasis,’ ‘Slow Country,’ ‘What Lies Within,’ ‘A Soldier’s Story,’ and many more, disclosed that the project was untitled and yet to be made public.
“I was also working on bringing back my one-man play, ‘Whumanizer,’ to audiences,” Tedela told Daily Trust. “All that had to be put on hold.”
However, during the lockdown, Tedela made good use of his time by reading several Nigerian novels he had not yet read. These included Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘Americanah,’ Lola Shoneyin’s ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives,’ Odafe Atogun’s ‘Taduno’s Song,’ Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani’s ‘Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree.’
Tedela also used the opportunity to work on story treatments for a script. “I have used the time to plan and analyse,” he said. “I did a lot of thinking without distractions since there was no audition or event to attend physically.”
The actor’s one-man play, ‘Whumanizer,’ follows Babatunde Bridges, a 21st century man in the modern world as he struggles with his identity, masculinity and his conflict with the murky waters of patriarchy. It was written by Odenike and Abiodun Kassim.