Olamilekan Shonneye fondly called Papa Show is a popular young Nollywood actor, who doubles as a producer and content provider. His rise in the film industry has been steady and he attributes it to grace and focus.
this interview with our correspondence, the handsome actor opens up on his relationship with female colleagues, his love life, career, and the secret to his emergence as a fast-rising actor.
SINCE fame and fortune came your way, how has it affected your romantic relationship?
Every Nigerian, no matter how much you make you still want more fortune and more money. Well, the fame Yes. The publicity still growing steady, you know, I’m out there. And obviously women are usually very attracted to people who appear on TV and all of that is not just about me,
So, how often do you get romantic advances from your female colleagues?
Female colleagues? it’s well. Attraction always comes with the job, it’s part of the job you get, especially where you work. Nobody will tell me that you have never admired somebody in the course of doing the job or in the cause of them working, so there’s been several attractions you get I would not say I’ve had.
Have you ever been offered sex for a role and how did you handle it?
Well sincerely I’ve not. I don’t think anybody has ever told me or that I have to compromise my integrity or compromise my body for a role, No. Nobody has done that to me, but I have never been told that I either must sleep with somebody or in that regard. No sexual harassment for me, in my case for a role, it has never happened to me.
Who or what inspired your decision to go into acting?
Inspiration comes from many angle, I grew up watching the Veteran Actors: Daddy Kola Oyewo, Daddy Baba Wande, Alhaji taiwo Hassan Ogogo, Alhaji Yinka Quadri and Femi Adebayo . This people have inspired me in several ways. Have worked with them on my new movie Oba Bi Olorun and it’s a dream come true.
Which movie would you say brought you to limelight and how did you get the role?
KADARA OLORUN was the movie that brought me into limelight and it was a movie I produced in 2019. It’s an emotional movie that cost me a lot of energy. I have to even create another hairstyle to suit the character I portrayed in the movie. It’s a challenging one and thanks to my fans who accepted the movie wholeheartedly.
The movie industry is very lucrative for those who understand the business well.
One of the aims and visions of anyone joining the movie industry is to be a celebrity, make money and impact Lives positively with the movies we make and on that, I am still a work in progress.
What were your aims and visions when you decided to go into acting, would you say you have achieved them?
Acting was a very passionate thing for me. I got into it out of circumstances that I now realized I wasn’t just just an actor who was not just interested in the film and the razzmatazz in the industry. I started seeing myself as someone who wanted to propagate a good motive.
It was all about interpreting characters for me. Those were my visions, those were my dreams to interpret characters to be able to change the ills of society and that is why I’m very particular about the scripts that I do. Even characters that I’ve not yet seen play before, I don’t just jump on it because I’ve seen something like this play before.
I take my time to do research and sometimes I put in the shoes of the characters. I study people and observe and bring it into the characters that I play as well. I want to impact live positively, meanwhile am still a work in progress.
What do you have to say on rape considering the allegations that rocked Nollywood directors?
Rape is a scourge, it’s a serious issue and it should be handled immediately and it’s on the rise in this country. It doesn’t just happen in Nollywood, they were several cases of sexual molestation, there has not been any case of a director forcing himself on an actress visa vis..
Its a global phenomenon everyone needs to fight it. Nobody should be subjected to that kind of ill-treatment especially for the women folks, it damages them, the aftermath of that rape, most men just think just think its that urge to quickly satisfy them self but its not just that, you leave and indelible mark in a human when you force yourself on them, it damages them with a trauma and in turn they remain in the society and the cause of that damage state they end up not having good relationships, a lot of women find it very had to stay with a man because there is already this notion that men are animalistic, men are wicked so a lot of them just hate men for no reason.
All rapist need to face the full arm of the law, they are not suppose to go scot free, they are supposed to pay for the punishment of putting somebody through a very terrible ordeal, most of this women never ever recover from the trauma, most of this women become repulsive by the touch of men. This have damage on our society, I do not in any way support rape and I stand against it and I’m of the opinion that every rapist should face the full arm of the law.
How lucrative is movie production in Nigeria?
As with every other businesses in Nigeria, people don’t really get support especially from the government it’s more like a personal or individual effort here in Nigeria in movie or every other sector but the movie business is a very lucrative business if only the government would aid it and support just like our Hollywood counterparts.
But most times it’s just an individual thing here in Nigeria and you know it’s not very easy because most times people use their individual money to do movies without the support from the government and it might not really turn out very big or on a large scale but trust me the movie business is a very lucrative industry.
We need the support of corporate bodies and the support of the government because some people do business with much money and sometimes don’t get their money back while some other people are very lucky they do movies with little money and get more profit back.
Aside Acting, what other things do you do?
Am into Graphics and Printing. This is what I earn a living from. I work for several Brands, individual and Coporate Bodies. Also, am into Fashion and Face Model as well as A Brand Influencer. So now you know please connect me and give me contracts Chuckles.