When Known Faces In Nigerian Movies Become Too Old
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Christina Ngene
I am a movie enthusiast with a passion for writing and a desire to see the African movie industries grow. I try to use my skills as an artist to cheer for Nollywood by writing for NollyMania. • Syndicate Correspondent
Many of the faces that appear in Nigerian movies are about to become too old. Some have even aged on our screens and this makes the unknown actors facetious thespians. To Nigerian filmmakers, faces that are unknown equals no talent, and those known in movies equal best.
Due to this, the small faces we know in Nollywood from the early 2000s are still so few, and so insignificant.
It is still the top actors of those early days that are still top. It almost feels like Nollywood hasn’t grown when you consider this factor. It could be these unknown faces that are the reason they aren’t growing, it could also be the big actors not letting others through.
In general, it is a terrible flaw for Nollywood. However, these are the reasons that prove that unknown faces can sometimes be more valuable to the movie industry.
The power of good narratives
If a movie production is optimistic, there should be no reason to worry about an actor’s face. Sometimes it’s really an immersive story that makes a film shine not the actor or the face. If the story is immersive enough for the actor, it wouldn’t be difficult to slip into the character even for the unknown and inexperienced actor.
Some popular American movies like ‘The Lord of the Rings’ only had unknown faces in lead characters. Yet the movie turned out to be one of America’s most successful for a while now. Sometimes, a movie is less about an actor’s performance and more about a good story. Sadly Nollywood is still basking in bad stories.
Unknown faces do have their benefits
Budget can have a tremendous effect on casting as well as interfere with the director’s supremacy over a film production. Some productions can’t afford big names, so they settle for the unknown faces.
These actors who accept little to work, leverage the opportunity to prove they are good. They put in more work than the known faces and such movies can often be outstanding.
Well-known actors can stall your production and create a mess sometimes because of their ego. Their high demands can also stop your project halfway. For some directors, especially the inexperienced ones, they simply want to avoid the known faces.
Directing big actors can be intimidating for some due to a lack of confidence and inability to contend with the presence of a popular actor.
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