What I Had to Do to Land the Role of Saro - Kunle Remi

Nigerian actor Kunle Remi got his first big break when he competed in and won Gulder Ultimate Search. After his win, he stepped squarely into Nollywood and has since gone on to make quite a name for himself in that industry. Now, Kunle Remi is the talk of the town again and this time, it is because of his starring role as Saro in the global smash, Anikulapo.

Sitting down with ace interviewer Ebuka Obi-Uchendu on Rubbin' Minds, Kunle Remi opened up about the challenges he faced playing the role of Saro, how he got the role, and what his reaction has been to the positive reception of the movie. Here is what Kunle said.

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Speaking with Kunle Remi, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu said to him: "Congratulations on Anikulapo. It was nice seeing you do that. Did it take you out of your comfort zone as much as it looked like it did?" to which Kunle Remi responded:

Absolutely! Exactly how it looked. It threw me off my comfort zone. You know, the standards that I've grown to understand or practice, it was completely different. It was a longer period for shoot, it was also a language film - Yoruba Ijele you know, so it wasn't just the Lagos Yoruba. I had to learn that. Reading it was easier, because you read it with your mind. But then saying it was a different ball game. The pronunciations and the mannerisms with it. So it's not just words, it's also with the body. So it took a lot.

"Did you have to audition for that? What did you have to do to get a role like that?"

Uhhh, so first working with the director, the amazing Kunle Afolayan, I did a movie with him previously. That was 'A Naija Christmas'. So that was the first time we were working. I think it was there he was like "hmm, this guy." So after that film, fast forward a few months later, he calls me and says in Yoruba "can you speak Yoruba?" and I go "Yes, I can". He says "Ah ah, I'm speaking Yoruba to you, you're replying in English". So I thought I didn't even get it. Until he just calls me later on and says "I'm sending you a script, read it, let me know what you think." Then I read it and said yeahhh, I'll do the work.

"Were you surprised by the reception of Anikulapo?"

I was like "wow, finally they can see" so it wasn't more of "oh, I've been doing this," it was more of "they can see". And also, the fact that it's a language film. And the reception is global and across board. It makes me feel like oh yeah, I've been seen and I'm being seen on a big scale. So yeah, the work is paying off.

What did you think of Kunle Remi's work in Anikulapo, and did you finally see his acting chops in this? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment either below or on my Jide Okonjo Facebook post.

That's All.

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