What have you been up to?
I have been making plans towards the premiere of my movie: and also making sure the movie gets to the cinema at the scheduled time. The premiere is going to be the last Sunday in October 2013, and then we start showing the first cinema day in November. We will be
looking at SilverBird Ikeja for the premiere and then working with all cinemas around for the screening. I have also been working on my next project, the pre-production of my next project after ‘Unforgiveable’ which is My Shadow. And because it involves music, alongside the
planning and making for the premier and the finishing of Unforgiveable, I still take time to go to the studio, undergo voice training and do some rehearsals before going to do the proper recording of the songs that are meant to be in the movie.
So is it a musical movie?
Yes, it is like a musical movie. The concept is about the rise and fall of a music artiste. I sing and I guess it is part of what people don’t really know about me. So Dayo Amusa is coming out with a different dimension this time around. I used to sing while in church and all that. The movie ‘My Shadow’ depicts seeing your shadow and like I said, the rise and fall of a musical artiste is the concept of the film and it’s going to be directed by Desmond Elliot.
Why the drift to Desmond Elliot; are there no good directors in the Yoruba movie industry where you belong?
No, don’t get me wrong. In the Yoruba sector we have wonderful directors. The fact that I’m working with Desmond does not mean the Yoruba directors are not good enough. I’m just trying to work around every sector in the entertainment industry. Tomorrow, I might end up working with a Hausa Director that I know is good and he will give me what I want. So it is all about being Yoruba or being English or being Desmond or not Bayo Tijani. Desmond Elliot actually gave me what I wanted, he saw himself in
the story and he was able to interpret the script the way he wanted it. Working with him again I think will be an honour.
So what’s Unforgiveable all about?
Unforgiveable is all about domestic violence, it’s all about marital issues. It’s all about cancer, uterus cancer to be precise. I am trying to pass a message to people that believe in domestic violence, violence against women and all that. What it could lead to? How to put an end to such an act. It’s also trying to pass a message to women that when they start getting funny messages health wise, they should go for proper medical check-up before it’s too late. It’s more like an informative, educative story that has to do with the things I mentioned.
How challenging was it for you?
It was a bit challenging for me because most people that know Dayo Amusa see me acting in crime movies talking about playing the roles of touts and street girls. Not a lot of people, not even many producers can believe that I can act in movies that are emotional or pathetic. I’m just trying to make people know that I’m an entertainer and an actress who doesn’t restrict myself to any role or any character. For me, it’s a challenge in that area. Then putting up the cast and crew that worked with me in the movie was also a herculean task. I still have my people from the Yoruba-speaking sector, I still carried them along. I have my crew and the Desmond’s crew. We had two DOPs (Directors of Photography) working, one was Austin who actually worked with Desmond a lot and I have my own DOP, Joseph Olagunjoye, It’s a joint work, joint effort.
Doesn’t that mean you’ll spend more?
It does, but because of what I wanted and the message I’m trying to pass, I don’t see the problems in me spending that much. Aside the fact that I would want to have a return on the penny I put into the money I still feel positive about the message I’m passing through to the people out there with the movie. So, I guess I don’t have any regret whatsoever putting so much into the movie. The uniqueness in it is having Mike Ezurunye who majority don’t know that he speaks Yoruba fluently and then having Desmond Elliot as a cast and director of the movie. It is so interesting and then having myself playing the character I played in the movie, for me, it’s extremely unique. I played the character of the wife of Mike Ezurunye. I played the character of an ideal woman who is so engrossed with marital issues that she neglected her own personal health which ended up in … Watch Out? (Laughs).
What’s your take on celebrity marriages crashing?
On that area, they wear the shoes and they know where it pinches. I am not married yet so I can’t talk about why their marriages are crashing. All I know is that there is no celebrity out there that will actually say I want to get married and don’t want my marriage to work. I’m very sure none would‘ve wished for that. And for those who are married and still together, good luck to them, God help them through and for those who are out of it, the Lord is their strength.
For you aspiring to marry someday, doesn’t that make you cautious or afraid?
As far as I’m concerned fingers aren’t equal. So I wouldn’t think because someone’s marriage isn’t working, I should start thinking my own won’t work. I don’t think that way. When I get to that bridge, I’m sure God will see me through in order to wade through.
So what’s your thought on marriage?
Marriage is honourable, marriage is beautiful when you have two people that share the same feelings being in it. When a man and his wife love each other genuinely, they have true feelings for each other, they could make it work. But as for me, I don’t have any problem with marriage; I just feel that when the time is not there, it’s not there. When you are not ready for it, you are not ready for it.
So you’re not ready for marriage?
Well, I’ll say I’m not because If I am,why am I still single?
Your first movie Aje Ogbodo is about lesbianism, it was said that some of the lesbians approached you, what was the experience?
It wasn’t an experience, it was just a normal hello, I like you and your movie and all that. The movie Aje Ogbodo was a huge success though I didn’t smile to the bank. I was happy because the message I was trying to pass across was well accepted. In all of my films, I try as much as possible to pinpoint something that is happening in the society. Aje Ogbodo was a movie that has to do with lesbianism and HIV, I was actually trying to let people know that being a lesbian does not rule out the fact that you can contact HIV. For those that are lesbians, they believe that since they are not having anything to do with men and make love originally, they cannot contact HIV through the act which is totally false. I try to give instances how they can in the movie. Since they saw me acting like them and it was all female casts, they (lesbians) approached me but I declined. I made them understand that I cannot be in it and be preaching against it.
Do negative stories bother you?
Why will it bother me? Why will I be bothered about some people who just write rubbish believing they know me when they do not know me? I don’t have the will to listen or read all these things. When I get to read something about me on the blogs, I just laugh at their stupidity. When you don’t know me and you talk like you are living under my nose. At least I know the people I am living with. I don’t keep too many friends. I don’t even have close friends, I relate with everybody equally. If anybody has to say something about, it is only my siblings and my mum.
So who is Dayo Amusa?
Dayo Amusa is a very blunt person. I don’t hide my feelings and don’t have the mind to. And I try as much as possible to make everybody around me feel happy and homely. I try as much as possible to have possible impact anywhere I go or in the midst of people.
Has acting put food on your table?
I will say yes even if it does not pay my bills fully. It gave me a platform where people get to reckon with me even those that I don’t know personally. So far acting has added to me personally.
When you started acting, did your mum give you her blessing?
She did not o. she was really against it, totally sef. I couldn’t convince her; I just went ahead and did my thing. As at the time that I stood on my feet that that was what I wanted to do, I guessed then I had the right to my feelings and whatever I want to make out of my life. It wasn’t like me disobeying her. Before then, I have always done church drama. I’ve actually wanted to join the entertainment industry immediately after my secondary school days.
When I told her I wanted to go for the Arts, she went against it totally. Then I can say I was still young and didn’t have the mind of my own. I had to go for my ND in Food Technology, after that I was able to stand on my feet. Even, if I had done my BSc and Masters, I would still drop that and go for the arts.
How was your growing up days?
I was not given the freedom to really associate. I went to a boarding school, May Flower and whenever I was on holidays, we are always indoors. I didn’t have the opportunity to mingle with people while growing up. I had my fun within my immediate family. I did not grow up with my dad. Probably, if I had grown up with my dad, maybe there are things I would have done things better. I thank God. Everybody believes that it takes two to raise a child but if it doesn’t work that way, reason’s best known to them, it doesn’t affect me in anyway. I’m a kind of person that lives in reality. I try to put myself in other persons’ shoes, I try to feel what they feel.
How much of privacy have you lost?
Because I live in the reality, I don’t see stardom losing my privacy. I don’t do things that will have me peep out and get to know if anybody is seeing me. If I have to go to the market, I do that. I even go to the market very often. I don’t see stardom taking anything from me.
How do you relax?
I just get to my house and shut myself from the outside world. Because I can be playful, I play games and chat with my loved ones, my siblings. I don’t smoke and I don’t drink.
How do you see the movie industry?
It’s quite obvious that things are taking shape bit by bit which we all know that it can’t pick up overnight; it has to be a gradual process just like we are going about it now. I believe that with God, we will get there, we are improving seriously acting wise, and our technicalities are really improving.
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