How playing criminal roles in films limited my opportunities, endorsements – Nollywood Actor

Nigerian Yoruba actor Shola ‘Lagata’ Akintunde has spoken about how his frequent portrayal of criminal characters has affected his career and professional opportunities.

In an interview on Oyinmomo, Akintunde revealed that he has begun rejecting certain roles involving criminal characters, saying such portrayals have made it difficult for him to secure brand endorsements and other career opportunities.

The actor explained that he is now embracing more positive and gentle roles as part of efforts to broaden his range, avoid being typecast and distance himself from the perception of being an “irresponsible” person.

“I’ve avoided some of those criminal roles because I noticed the roles are preventing me from getting endorsements from brands. A man once told me that if Nigeria legalised guns, I would have been used to promote it, and I was confused. So it’s depriving me of so many things,” he said.

“People who play these criminal roles are seen as irresponsible people. So I’ve considered those things and avoided some criminal roles and started diversifying to other gentle roles.”

The actor further revealed that he did not deliberately choose criminal roles, saying his first acting role was as a thug and his performance impressed Sola Aderounmu, his boss and Dele Odule, who encouraged him to pursue such roles.

“I didn’t choose the criminal roles. The first scene I ever acted in, I was a thug in the film. So Sola Aderounmu and my boss said I did it well and told me to pay attention to it. They said it’s befitting for me because of my height and my strong face,” he added.

“So my boss took me to other places for rehearsal to get better in those criminal roles. Also, when I acted as a criminal in a movie that featured Dele Odule, he was very impressed by my performance. Odule called me and encouraged me.”