By Damilola Fatunmise
How proud are you seeing how people accepted your movie ‘Queen Lateefah’ at the cinema with N365million Box Office record, did you envisage the movie would be this well accepted?
That was my prayer and the fact that it came true was my prayer answered. There are people that would do beautiful stories and at the end of the day it won’t be accepted. I still feel it didn’t get the recognition it was supposed to get because it was a beautiful movie. I’m hopeful that by the time it comes to the streaming platform people will see the magic we have made.
What was your ‘A’ game like knowing that it was your first cinema movie?
I will not say I did any magic but rather, the result was just a product of hard work and working with the right team. Being my first cinema movie ever, I took a risk and it paid off for me. In my own little way, I did a little publicity, created social media contents, cinema rounds and I left God to handle the rest for me.
You had an amazing cast line up, how were you able to pull that?
‘Queen Lateefah’ was something I had planned. So, while writing the script, I had characters in mind and luckily the characters were available. They saw the script and they jumped at it and loved it. I saw the pictures even before shooting the movie.
How easy or tough was it for you to transition from a local girl character to a posh lady almost at the same time?
That’s what makes me Wumi Toriola, the versatility, dynamism and a whole lot more. I am just an all-round entertainment package.
As a thespian, are there still dream roles you are looking forward to playing?
I don’t think there is any. There are some that are harder than others and you have to sit back and go back to the drawing board especially when you see them and they don’t come out like the way you want, just improve on it. I don’t think there is any role I have not done whether major or very small. I’ve been able to go through almost all the roles.
The industry is witnessing female filmmakers shatter box office records, how does that make you feel as a female creative?
It makes me feel good that the women are doing well and at the same time the men are doing well too. The only thing that is known about the women is that we do more paparazzi and our jobs get to be known more than the male. The males do good stories but they don’t do much with the paparazzi so it doesn’t mean that the males are not doing well and I’m so proud of the females and the industry at large.
In your view, is the creative industry where it is supposed to be?
We are not where we are supposed to be but we are not where we used to be. It’s getting better and there is hope for the future. Where the work is on is not even on the technical, cast or story. Our stories are good but we have more work to do as the investors. A lot of them don’t believe in us so much. That’s the only challenge we have now but I know that sometime very soon everything will be resolved.
Are filmmakers doing justice to telling our stories?
Yes. Nobody can tell our story better than us. I think we are doing a lot more. I’m seeing a lot of healthy collaborations. It’s making story telling easy. They are doing well and great. It’s a beautiful one. Ageshinkole, Anikulapo, Lisabi are beautiful historical stories and others and a lot more are still coming.
Is there a personality difference between the Wumi Toriola on screen and off-screen?
Some say I’m just the same but one thing that has been constant is the realness. I’m just real and just me. Sometimes I don’t remember the celebrity status and that’s a lot of hard work for me because of the realness. Sometimes you have to package it so that people can see it.
What do you think makes you unique?
I don’t strive to be like anybody, I just want to be myself. I watch other individuals that are good and I learn from them. Even when I admire someone’s acting abilities, I still don’t want to be like them. I just want to be better at what I do. I don’t want to be like any particular actress.
Are there moments when you feel you are not in the right profession?
No. Even when it was really tough, I just knew something good would come out. We are not there yet but something good will come out.
Your movie projects are doing so well YouTube, what more should we be expecting?
I’m doing more. I feel better. The YouTube queen thing, I don’t see as an insult, I embrace it with so much joy because if you don’t connect with your grassroots you won’t stay. You can call me a YouTube queen and a box office queen. I have few projects currently showing on my dedicated channel and we still have a lot more to come.
What then do you have up your sleeve for 2025?
It is a back-to-back thing, especially on my YouTube channel. A lot of beautiful movies are coming. I’ve experienced the bigger market and I’m telling the story differently this time and a lot of techniques are put in place. It is not just YouTube; we are bringing Netflix to you on YouTube on my channel. And also, have it locked down that we are cooking another cinema masterpiece in September 2025.