Yoruba actor Tokunbo Malvins has shared a shocking account of the extreme hardship he endured while chasing his acting dream.
Speaking during an interview on Oyinmomo TV, the comic star revealed that he slept on a burial ground for six years while learning the craft in travelling theatre.
According to him, the struggle began after he left home in 1991 to pursue acting and joined a theatre group that performed at ceremonies but earned very little.
Malvins described the harsh living conditions that defined his early years in the industry.
“I slept on the burial ground for six (years). It was the house where I was living when I was learning about travelling theatre.”
He explained that his room was too small for comfort, so he mostly kept his belongings there and slept outside whenever he could not enter.
“The room was small. I only kept my luggage in the room… Any time the door was locked, it meant I would be sleeping in the burial ground. That was how I slept for six years.”
To survive, he even improvised basic comfort from whatever he could find.
“I stole a woven cloth at a movie location. It was the cloth I would spread on the burial ground to sleep on.”
His situation later changed slightly when he moved from the burial ground to sleeping in a passage. But even that came with humiliation.
“There was a woman who always warned us not to sleep in the passage… she would intentionally pour urine on us.”
His turning point came after meeting Gbenga Adewusi, CEO of Bayowa Films, who offered him his first television compere role at LTV 8.
That opportunity brought him public attention and marked the start of his rise in the Yoruba film industry.
Today, Tokunbo Malvins is widely recognised for his comic roles, a far cry from the years he spent sleeping beside graves in pursuit of his dream.