By Damilola Fatunmise
Juliana Olayode aka Toyo Baby, a nickname she got from starring as Toyosi in Funke Akindele’s drama series, Jenifa’s Diary, is an actress, sexual purity activist and motivational speaker.
Having featured in a couple of movies, Olayode became a household name in the industry. Recently, the actress cum motivational speaker published and released her autobiography, Rebirth: From Grass to Grace.
In this chat, Olayode reveals how it all started, her challenges and projects amongst others. Here are excerpts:
How does it feel to feature on soon-to-be released movie, ‘A Tribe Called Judah’?
It feels great to be back on set with Funke Akindele and there is a lot of emotions; sweet, exciting. Before we did A Tribe Called Judah, we did Bashorun Gaa together but it wasn’t her project. It was for BAP (Bolanle Austen-Peters) and I believe that will be out next year. It’s always good vibes, energy, fun and laughter being on her set. It felt so good to be back.
Growing up, have you always wanted to be an actress?
Never. I didn’t know I would ever act. I thought I would be a singer and people will listen to my music and I would be jumping all over the place. I didn’t set out to be an actor. Sometimes in life you plan to do certain things and you have your five years plan written out, and if you are somebody that submits your life to God, at some point, God will disrupt your plans and put his own plan. He starts to lead your life in the way he wants it to go. I think that’s the typical story of my life. This acting was just God that launched me and put me in this direction. There is no way I’m going to talk about myself and not talk about my relationship with God. I’m a Christian.
How will you describe your auditioning days?
Audition days are like suffer head moments. It’s like you are looking for a job and you are going from place to place hoping that some people will call you back. Some will and some will not. That time you would spend your money on fine clothes. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon, so I could use that money to buy food. But I would start thinking of clothes. Thankfully one of my friends used to work at a boutique and her boss called Genevieve was nice. Shout out to her. She used to have a clothing line. When new clothes come, she would give out the old clothes and that was how I had clothes. She never met me in person but I love her. I love and respect her. I think it was a bitter and sweet experience. Bitter when you don’t get picked at the end. Sweet in the sense that it feels like your hard work is being recognized.
I auditioned and they found me worthy to be able to play the role, so that means I was doing something right. And then the people that you meet, because it’s always a long queue and sometimes you are there the whole day eating only gala and coke. I feel like it’s part of the journey, but when you are at that point you will never think that there will be a time when they will call you for closed door auditions. It was a good experience. But sometimes they call you for closed doors audition and they still don’t call you for the job.
So, at what point did the spotlight fall on you?
That will be during Jenifas Dairy, which was really unplanned. Nothing really prepares you for the fame. I didn’t think I would be famous. I used to have one drama group in UNILAG and our tutor used to tell us that there are some actors that will never be famous, and it doesn’t mean they are not good. But it just happens to some people. Our tutor kept mentioning names of fantastic actors we didn’t know. I believe that God gives different grace to different people. It doesn’t mean that you are not talented or good enough. That’s how God is. When the first season of Jenifa’s Dairy came out, I never believed I would be famous or even come for the next season until people started calling me ‹Toyo Baby› and I became famous.
Would you act in any movie irrespective of the price tag?
No. I don’t think anybody should do that. You have to love the story; you have to be interested in playing the character. Every actor has certain thing that they can do and can’t do. You just have to check with yourself if you actually really want to go into it.
At the end of the day, the money they pay you will finish, but that project will be there forever. If you don’t like what you did, anytime people bring a project, you will feel disappointed. Even if your fans are hailing you, you should know that you don’t like what you did.
What will make you reject a script?
I will reject a script if it doesn’t align with my values.
What are some of the challenges you face for being an actor?
It would be the fact that sometimes it is not how good you are, it’s about the people you know. You might get a role and probably the person dropping money for the project doesn’t like you or prefers someone else, and then they drop you for that person. For you, it breaks your heart because you have pictured yourself playing that role and then they drop you last minute.
Another challenge is that acting takes a lot of your time. I was saying that landlords should start giving actors discount because we are rarely at home. You are always up and about. Acting takes a lot of your time and people don’t really know how much work it takes to be an actor. You need to be mentally, emotionally and physically stable. It takes everything from you even though, it looks like we are ‘playing’. People think we are players but it’s a lot of work. Even just waiting on set to shoot your own scene, reading the script and getting into character amongst others are challenging.
Every job has its own challenges, sometimes I feel like actors have these stigmas. People think they are wayward or wild.
You can’t just judge anybody because of their profession. You cannot judge anybody because of their looks. Looks can be deceptive. That person you think is the wildest and most deceptive person can be sweet. The person looks that way because they choose it or they don’t see it as anything bad. That’s their style.
Meanwhile the person you think is the best might actually be the devil. You never know who is who unless you have a discerning spirit or you meet them. There is that stigma or tag that actors are promiscuous, and they cannot have a good marriage.
Were there down moments when you felt you were in the wrong profession?
Yes, there are times when you are like ‘what am I doing?’ I had moments like that when you think ‘what am I doing here? Am I not supposed to be something else?’ But then, every job has its challenges.
How were you able to put yourself together during those moment?
I go back to be with myself. I pray. I listen to audio books, sermons. I read. I listen to worship music and I cry. By the time I do all those things, I know that I’m back.
You have acted several roles, are there still dream roles you look forward to playing?
Yes. I would love to be like Angelina Jolie and fight, play a role like she did in Fast and Furious. Or like Wakanda with super powers to fly. While in Nollywood, I feel like whatever the role is, when it comes, it will align.
Who do you look up to in the industry?
I look up to so many amazing people in the industry. Funke Akindele is one person I admire so much, She’s very hardworking, a go-getter and she’s unstoppable. She’s a person who believes that if she can think about it, then she can have it and she will go for it no matter what anyone says. Also, I admire Genevieve Nnaji a lot. Before I became an actor, outside my school gate, they used to sell story books and music books. I usually looked out for the one that had Genevieve’s face. I love her from watching her movies. I used to cut out any newspaper that had her face and used it to wrap my book. I just liked her and I’ve always loved her like that.
Also, I love Nse. I cannot even describe it. One time, I met with her manager and I was like ‘please I don’t know if she will be taking any acting courses’ because I would like to come and learn under her. I love how she embodies her characters. She’s also really graced and blessed.
Which genre would you say you are comfortable acting in?
I used to think I preferred to do English movies. But there is this epic Yoruba movie we did, and I got my first lead role in an epic movie. I was scared. I thought about how I would speak Yoruba because it’s different from the usual one we speak everyday, but I was up to the task and I did my assignment well. I got someone to read my script with me. When I got on stage and said my first lines, everyone clapped for me. I loved the whole vibes of the movie and the moral and culture portrayed. I can’t pick one. I love both genres of English and Yoruba.
In 2017, you published your autobiography, what brought about the idea of a book?
What happened was that I had dreams about me writing a book, and sharing my story with so many people. I believe I have the gift of dreams, so when I kept having those dreams consistently, I felt it was about time to share my story. One of the ways that God speaks to me is through dreams. I know dreams that are not figments of my imagination but a message. That happened consistently so I knew it was time for me to share the story. Sometimes when people see our vulnerability, they can see hope and know that if this person came from here and is here now, then there is hope for me. It’s just for another person to see that they are not alone. Sometimes it is the feeling of being alone that kills people faster. They feel they are the only one in the world going through challenges. I don’t know if people have wild thoughts because I have some, I live in my head a lot. For people like me, you find out that you are over thinking many things and when you do that, you have the weirdest thoughts that when you say it to someone, they ask how you are thinking that. When you keep it in your head, it drives you crazy. That was essentially why I felt the need to tell the story because I felt the need to tell the story.
What project are you currently working on?
I’m working on another book. I’m working on some other things I don’t want to let out now.