BBNaija Season 6 star and actor Boma Akpore has drawn a firm line on the roles he will accept in Nollywood, stating that a gay role is one he will not take.
Speaking in an interview on TheCable’s 2Kobo podcast, Akpore was asked what role audiences would never see him play. His answer was direct.
“Oh, you would not find me in a gay role. Thank you. I don’t do that. Nothing is wrong with it, but I wouldn’t do that. I don’t know; this is quite controversial.”
He extended the same caution to certain violent or coercive scenes.
“There are some instances where they bring the script, and they are like, ‘You would forcefully hold the girl down,’ and I’m like, I don’t know if I want to play this role in Nigeria; the audience might sometimes forget that it is a film. I really try to stay away from those kinds of roles,” he said.
He added that he can otherwise play a wide range of characters, pointing to his work as a clown production manager in This Is Not A Nollywood Movie.
Akpore, a New York Film Academy alumnus and SAG-AFTRA member who also serves as director of communications for the Actors Guild of Nigeria, said he approaches every role with full commitment. Discussing his performance as a bodyguard in the film 19, he explained that many actors still play themselves rather than the character.
“Someone that is supposed to be playing a house boy, he still dey do ‘guy’. The role is contradicting and clashing with his personality. You are playing a role; it is not you.”
He noted that strong performances can lead to typecasting. After the premiere of 19, people called him wanting to see him as a lover or a pastor instead of another villain.
“Everybody is casting me as a bad guy because I think I play it too well. This is not an industry where people want to experiment. They want to go with the things that they are sure would yield,” he said.
On the differences between Hollywood and Nollywood, Akpore highlighted structured pay and protections in the American system. As a SAG-AFTRA member since 2017, he is bound by guild rules abroad, including overtime rates that can reach “golden time.” In Nigeria, long days often still count as a single day. He said this is one reason he joined the Nigerian guild leadership and is working to improve standards, including possible links with the American guild. He also receives residual checks from his earlier work on The Blacklist.
Akpore described his current focus as serious production work rather than clout. He said he has been involved in projects worth significant sums, including a $300,000 Amazon Original as lead producer, and is preparing his own executive-produced project for 2027. His film Intensive Care Unit is an official selection for AFRIFF. He has been in the industry for about 19 years and has no regrets about going on BBNaija for the visibility it brought.
On personal matters, he said he does not waste time if he finds someone he likes, but any marriage would be private and without a set timeline. He described politics as a dirty game and suggested that if everyone avoids it, the space is left to those who are heartless.