NEED TO KNOW

• Omowunmi Dada has spent more than a decade building a career across stage, film, television, production and education.
• She made her film debut in Oya in 2013 and gained wider attention as Folake in the M-Net series Jemeji.
• Her credits include Country Hard, Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti and Everybody Loves Jenifa. She won the 2022 AMVCA for Best Supporting Actress in Country Hard.
• Dada now teaches Nollywood and African storytelling at the University of Michigan, bringing her industry experience into the classroom.
• She launched Signet Ring Studios to produce women-led African stories, including Black Market, which is tied to a planned 50,000-person Guinness World Record attempt.

From earning as little as ₦3,000 per role to preparing for a Guinness World Record attempt expected to bring 50,000 people together for Black Market, Omowunmi Dada’s journey has been shaped by talent, closed doors, pain, reinvention and the price of visibility.

In 2026, Omowunmi Dada has appeared in Evi, Okanjuwa and Meltdown, with Alahun: The Weaver, Mama Deola’s Wedding, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives and Black Market also on her slate. The projects show her range as an actress and her growing influence as a producer.

Speaking exclusively with Guardian Life, Dada spoke about talent, exclusion, health and decisions that changed her career. Now an actress and producer, she is building the kind of opportunities she once waited to receive.

Talent not enough

Dada did not enter Nollywood with financial security or immediate access to major roles. Like many emerging actors, she worked for small fees while trying to prove that her talent deserved greater opportunities.

She admitted that there were moments when the struggle made her question whether her ability would be enough to change her life.

“Yes, there were moments. I am human, and despite how expansive my career is now, there were moments of self-doubt and internal pressure,” she told Guardian Life.

Rather than allow those doubts to end her journey, she became more intentional about developing her craft. She treated acting as her strongest weapon and focused on making every performance believable.

“As an actor, my weapon is my ability and talent to act convincingly. Those moments of self-doubt were followed by more intentionality towards developing my craft and positioning myself,” she explained.

Over time, she discovered that talent needed support. Good management, strategic positioning and professional relationships became important parts of building a sustainable career.

Moving behind camera

Dada’s decision to establish Signet Ring Studios represents a shift from interpreting other people’s ideas to shaping the stories Nollywood tells.

She does not describe the move as frustration or growth alone. In her view, actors moving into production is part of a long Nollywood tradition shaped by creative freedom, financial necessity and career survival.

“This move is not a binary choice between growth and fatigue,” she said.

She pointed to industry figures such as Jide Kosoko, Amaka Igwe, Kareem “Baba Wande” Adepoju and Adeyemi “Adelove” Afolayan, who combined performance with creative and business control.

According to Dada, those actor-executives helped build Nollywood by making decisions beyond the roles they played. They understood that waiting for producers and filmmakers to determine every step of their careers could become limiting.

Her move into production is also driven by representation. She wants Nigerian and African women to have more power in front of and behind the camera.

“I want to tell stories that give agency to Nigerian and African women, and it’s through Signet Ring Studios that this can be done,” she said.

Not every story will fit the familiar idea of a commercial Nollywood film. But Dada believes commercial predictions should not determine which stories deserve to exist.

“The stories my production company will choose to tell might not be commercially driven, but are stories that deserve to be told.”

She cited Dammy Twitch’s Call of My Life as an example of a film that appeared to lack the usual commercial markers but still connected with audiences. For her, its success proves that a strong story can travel beyond industry expectations.

Black Market to break Guinness World Record

Dada’s production journey has now led to Black Market, a film connected to a Guinness World Record attempt expected to bring together 50,000 people.

The scale of the planned screening makes it one of the boldest parts of the project. However, Dada insists that the attempt is not designed to replace the story or turn the film into a publicity stunt.

“Signet Ring Studios is built on the premise that African women’s stories don’t need permission but infrastructure to be central,” she said.

That infrastructure includes women making decisions behind the scenes. According to Dada, Black Market is directed by a woman and has several female executives involved in the production.

For her, the record attempt is also connected to the communal history of cinema in Nigeria. Before streaming platforms and private screens, many Nigerians experienced films together.

Some gathered around television sets. Others watched through neighbours’ windows or shared public viewing spaces with relatives and friends.

“For many Nigerians, communal cinema and watching films from a neighbour’s windows introduced us to the beauty of cinema and filmmaking,” she said.

Dada believes that shared experience has weakened over time. The planned gathering of 50,000 people is an attempt to revive the feeling of watching a Nigerian film as a community.

“Importantly, the attempt isn’t the story but the film and the communal feeling of watching a Nigerian film together with your friends, partners, relatives, and colleagues,” she said.

Nollywood’s currency of proximity

Dada’s journey has also taught her that talent does not always determine who receives an opportunity.

Nollywood still depends heavily on informal networks because formal casting institutions, professional management structures and standardised processes remain limited.

When these structures are weak, relationships can become more powerful than merit.

“When formal structures are weak, proximity and relationship become the currency,” she said.

Dada does not believe relationships are automatically harmful. Every industry has communities built around friendship, familiarity and trust. Those groups often share information about auditions, productions and new opportunities.

The problem begins when actors outside those circles cannot access the same information, regardless of their ability.
Dada has experienced moments when she believed she had the talent and preparation for a role, but the opportunity did not come.

“There have been moments when I knew I had the talent, had done the work, and was ready for an opportunity, but the door simply didn’t open,” she said.

Those moments forced her to rethink how much power she gave to closed rooms. Rather than spend her career trying to impress one person or circle, she focused on her work and built professional relationships across the industry.

“I learned very early not to spend too much time knocking on doors where nobody intends to answer because one person, one circle, one room cannot be the source of every opportunity,” she said.

Signet Ring Studios became part of that response. It allowed her to move from waiting outside other people’s rooms to creating opportunities of her own.

“Sometimes the answer to being excluded from a table is not fighting desperately for a seat; it is building a table so meaningful that people begin asking how they can sit with you, ” she noted.

Talent, numbers and commercial appeal

The modern Nollywood actor is judged by more than performance. Social media numbers, industry connections and commercial appeal can influence casting decisions before an actor enters an audition room.

Dada believes these factors are connected by one thing: risk.

Film is an artistic product, but it is also a business. Producers and investors want reassurance that a project can attract an audience and recover its budget.

“In Nollywood and other film industries, film is a creative enterprise. But it’s also a commercial-driven endeavour,” she explained.

Without reliable audience data, producers often depend on what they can measure quickly. Followers are visible. Connections are visible. Previous commercial success can be counted.

Talent is more difficult to calculate because it only proves itself when the actor performs.

“Talent is the one variable that doesn’t reduce risk on paper,” she noted.

Until Nollywood develops stronger ways to measure long-term value, Dada believes it will continue to focus on what appears valuable in the short term.

Colourism and carrying the story

Dada has previously spoken about dark-skinned actresses being denied prominent roles in Nollywood.

She believes the industry has made progress since she raised the issue publicly in 2023. Dark-skinned women now occupy major spaces on screen, although she insists that their talent, not their complexion, should define their success.

“Naming things shapes what becomes contestable and changeable,” she said.

She does not measure her career by lead and supporting titles alone. Some characters remain with audiences despite having limited screen time, and she sees that impact as an achievement.

“Every actor wants the opportunity to carry a story, and I’ve been blessed to have leading roles as well. But I don’t measure my journey by titles alone,” she told Guardian Life.

Financial struggle behind the glamour

Visibility does not always translate into financial security for Nigerian actors.

An actor may appear in successful productions, attend premieres and command public attention while struggling privately between jobs.

Dada sees this as a structural problem rather than a personal failure.

“Many Nigerian actors and creatives don’t earn a sustainable income from their craft,” she noted.

The industry has witnessed veteran actors turn to public fundraising for medical care. Emerging performers also struggle to pay for transport to film sets or survive while waiting for delayed fees.

Acting income remains largely project-based, while residual payments, union protections and consistent payment systems are limited.

“Until the industry builds these mechanisms, ‘success’ and ‘financial stability’ will remain two separate achievements that don’t automatically follow from each other,” she said.

Performing strength through pain

For years, Dada worked through leg pain before undergoing surgery.

She continued to appear on set, perform and smile because she did not want her condition to become the first thing people noticed about her.

“I think I hid it because, as actors, we become very good at performing strength, even when nobody has said ‘action,’” she recalled.

The pressure did not come only from the industry. It also came from within.

Actors understand that productions work with strict schedules, budgets and deadlines. They also know another performer may be available if they cannot continue.

That awareness made slowing down feel dangerous. Dada convinced herself that she could not afford to pause because she had worked too hard to build her career.

Surgery forced her to reconsider that belief. “I had to understand that my body is not separate from my career. It is the instrument through which I do the work I love,” she said.

The experience changed her understanding of strength. Enduring pain quietly was no longer proof of commitment.
“The work will continue. But there is only one Omowunmi Dada.”

Criticism and uncomfortable growth

Dada recalled receiving criticism online about one of her performances. Her first response was to defend herself because actors understand choices and unforeseen circumstances behind their work.

After the emotion passed, she watched the performance again and realised the critics have identified something useful.

“Hmm… they may actually have a point,” she recalled. “Ewo! That one pained me small!.”

“You cannot fall so deeply in love with your own talent that you become deaf to growth. I would rather be uncomfortable and growing than comfortable in giving mediocre performances,” she added.

Teaching Nollywood abroad

Dada’s experience teaching Nollywood at the University of Michigan changed how she viewed the industry.

“That experience is part of why I think Nollywood needs more spaces for its practitioners to think publicly, not just perform,” she said.

Price of visibility

Fame has given Dada opportunities, influence and a loyal community of supporters she calls her Omoluabi Fanmily.
It has also taken away some of the privacy she had before becoming widely recognised.

“Suddenly, people have expectations of who Omowunmi Dada is supposed to be. Every dream has a price nobody tells you about when you are praying for it. Sometimes, I miss the freedom of simply being Omowunmi, without wondering who might be watching.”