Behind the Scenes with a Nollywood Icon

Few actors have watched the Nigerian film industry transform as closely as Funmi Adesanya. Over a career spanning three decades, she has moved from VHS-era home videos to the streaming-era productions now reaching audiences worldwide.

"When I started, we shot an entire film in ten days with almost no budget," she recalls. "Now I work with directors who spend ten days just on lighting for one scene. The ambition has changed completely."

What has not changed, she insists, is the storytelling instinct that made Nollywood a global phenomenon in the first place. "We have always known how to make an audience feel something quickly. That is our superpower, and no amount of bigger budgets should make us forget it."

She is candid about the industry's growing pains too — inconsistent pay, long hours, and an audience that is more demanding than ever. But after thirty years, her enthusiasm for the craft has not dimmed. "I still get nervous before a scene," she says. "That nervousness means I still care. The day I stop feeling it is the day I retire."