Nollywood actress and producer Bolaji Ogunmola has shut down critics who reduce her career to kissing scenes, declaring that such views only prove limited understanding of her work.
In a recent interview with BBC Pidgin that has gained traction online, the star of Ajosepo: The Gathering addressed the persistent commentary around her romantic roles.
“I’m bigger than kissing roles. It’s not the totality of my life. If that’s the only thing that you know me for, it means that you are a bad child,” she stated firmly.
Bolaji explained that many of the loudest critics never watch the full films.
“The truth is, majority of the people that say things like that don’t even watch the movies. They see one minute clips on social media and go ahead to keep talking about it. They don’t investigate where it came from or watch the movies, they just want to talk.”
She admitted the comments once affected her.
“It used to affect me before because I used to feel the need to assert that that’s not the way I am in real life, but these days, I’ve come to realize that people just want to talk. The reason you don’t see me in dramas is that I have home training and I was trained very well. And this is not a shade to anybody, but some people are better trained than others.”
Turning to the conversation around Ajosepo: The Gathering and cinema schedules, Bolaji dismissed claims of favoritism.
“Ajosepo Gathering doesn’t have any issues, but we have to enlighten our people because even the cinemas are trying to run a business. If a film is doing well, they’ll get more showtime. It hurts because I’ve experienced it too. Nobody really goes behind the doors to get a film kicked out of cinemas because the cinemas want to make money.”
She stressed that cinemas prioritise commercial performance, while also acknowledging that personal feelings can sometimes get in the way.
“The cinemas will not kick out a film doing well to keep another film that’s not doing well. I don’t believe there’s favoritism in cinemas unless there’s a personal beef between them, but I also do not want to have that mentality that someone is actively trying to tear me down.”
Bolaji used the moment to advocate for stronger cinema culture over reliance on YouTube.
“We can’t build the whole of Nollywood industry on just YouTube films. We can’t say we want to compete at the Oscars, open in places all over the world, make films that are conversation starters around the world, and then dump the films on YouTube. Budgeting for movies is not a joke.”
She closed with a powerful personal vision:
“I want to be remembered as a person that has the audacity to dream. There are people I started with that haven’t done half of what I’ve done. It’s not because they wanted it to be like that, but because of the grace of God and because I dared to dream.”
The actress continues to balance on-screen performances with producing and pushing for higher industry standards. Her latest comments have drawn strong support from fans who praise her confidence and focus.