Nollywood actor and filmmaker Daniel Etim Effiong has fired back at Christians who keep grilling him over on-screen kissing, comparing the question to asking a gynaecologist why he examines women as part of his job.
The Herd director made the remarks on Tolu Afilaka’s Sound Minds podcast, when asked how he handles kissing scenes as a Christian actor.
“Would you ask this same question to a gynecologist? A doctor that works with women and looks at the female genitalia every day while saving their lives. Would you ask him why would he look at a woman’s genitals as a medical professional?” he said.
He argued that the issue is not the act itself but the condition of the heart behind it.
“A good man out of the deep things of his heart brings forth good things. The Bible says it’s not what goes into a man that destroys him, but what comes out of him. Meaning there’s a condition of your heart that qualifies what you do and judges it so that a mere handshake or a stare, you can do evil, much more than kissing.”
The actor has faced this debate for years. Romantic roles and a viral kissing scene with Bolaji Ogunmola in Summer Rain drew criticism from viewers who said a married Christian should not be kissing co-stars on camera. His wife, Toyosi Etim-Effiong, has publicly backed him, once saying he is her God-ordained husband and can kiss as many girls as the work requires.
On an earlier interview with Channels TV’s Rubbin’ Minds, Etim-Effiong said producers pack scripts with kisses because that is what sells. He also said he prays before those scenes.
On Sound Minds, he returned to that same tension between faith and craft. He has said there is no clean split between sacred and secular if God sent him into the industry, and that fear should not chase a believer off a set he believes he was called to. He left engineering for storytelling and has described acting as a form of worship.
The latest clip is already splitting opinions again. Some viewers say the gynaecologist comparison is a stretch. Others say he is simply asking critics to judge motive, not the job description.