Kehinde Bankole: Make way for AMVCA leading lady

She received a standing ovation when the award presenters announced her as winner of the best in Lead Actress category of the 2024 African Magic Viewers Choice Award (AMVCA). As the audience at the venue clapped, some of them nodded in affirmation.

They all seem to agree with the decision of the AMVCA jury, that the delectable actress Kehinde Bankole should be crowned best lead actress for her role in the movie by Adeoluwa Owu, titled, Adire. The audience kept clapping until the star of critically acclaimed movies such as October 1, Funmilayo and others got on stage.

“She deserves it,” said a gaily dressed lady who introduced herself as a Brand Manager of fast-moving consumer goods.

“Infact, Everyone in that category — Segilola Ogidan, Lucie Debay, Omowunmi Dada, Ireti Doyle, Evelyne Ily, and Funke Akindele for The Tribe called Judah — deserve to win, but I think Kehinde deserves it more. She was outstanding in Adire and she has been outstanding in her other movies,” surmised the brand manager.

A visibly elated Kehinde Bankole who couldn’t hold her joy after she was declared winner of the category, got on stage and said: “Thank you so much. I can’t lie. I had a speech, but I can’t remember it. But I know that appreciation is very important. Thank you so much AMVCA. This will be my second time of receiving your prestigious award. You changed our lives and gave us a platform to rise. I want to say thank you to the director of Adire… I want to thank my family. There was a time I wanted to switch from television to film and I thought it will be so hard. But I just kept on. I just want to say to any actor here, keep on doing what you are doing and you will be seen.”

Said to be disarmingly humble and friendly, the Abeokuta, Ogun state born actress, model and singer lived the character she played in ‘Adire’ believably. Kenny played Adire, a sex worker turned entrepreneur who draws the ire of a preachers wife after she moved to a small town where she launched her own lingerie business. Those who have seen the star-studded movie said Kenny Banks put up an impressive performance that was enough to earn her a place among the leading actresses of the continent.

Tall and on the slim side, the Mass Communication graduate of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, who is the fourth child of six children, was born and raised in Lagos. Kenny’s first professional contact with the entertainment industry was when she took part in the 2003 Miss Commonwealth beauty pageant.

She followed it up with her participation in the 2004 edition of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant. Kenny rode on the back of her participation in those pageants to book a place on the runway. An opportunity to strut the runway came first through ace fashion designer Mon-Ami. The actress who has featured in more television dramas, series and soaps including Doctors Quarters, Echoes, Tinsel, Shadows and Papa Ajasco later modeled for other designers and brands including being an ambassador for LUX beauty soap.

An actress who trained on the job, and has had the benefit of working with a lot of directors, Kenny never thought of acting fulltime. “I have always wanted to be a model. I use to like Tyra Banks, but later on I found Halle Berry and Angelina Jolie then I thought of acting too,” she said.

Now fully devoted to the screen acting vocation with plans to set up an acting and networking agency in the future, the initial validation for Kenny’s talent as an actress came when she featured in several episodes of Super Story. She agreed that but for the series, she would still have probably been looking for an opportunity to engage the turf. “I got my break with Super Story. I started with the Papa Ajasco series. But I must have impressed the WAP crew because they called me back to feature as a sub lead on the Super Story series and then they called me back to feature as a lead and they kept calling me back and I said to myself, yes I think I have nailed it. So now, with the works I have done, I think that the sky is just the starting point,” she explained.

With an acting pouch that includes movies like Façade, Render to Ceaser, and Awakening, Kenny revealed in an earlier interview with Moviedom that it was not easy breaking into the field of acting.

“No it was not’ she replied adding it was very tough for her in the beginning.” You find yourself having to prove that you have the gift or talent for acting and the only way to prove is to be given the opportunity to show it and those opportunities were very rare. So one had to look out for auditions and trials but what was good about it was that at every stage of the trial something positive in terms of remarks came out of it so one was encouraged to keep trying. I kept trying until I got the break on Super Story and the rest as they say is history.”

Raised by parents whom she described as “God-fearing and disciplinarians,’’ Kenny revealed that at first her parents objected to her decision to engage the turf but she explained that they later allowed her walk her dream when they realised that it was all she wanted to do.

According to her “my parents and family saw my involvement in entertainment coming, they only objected when I was a bit younger and it was understandable because they had concerns about my doing well academically. They wanted us to do well. So, what you need do is to prove yourself academically and once they establish that you can cope well, they will encourage you.” Does she find acting rewarding?

Kenny said she does and added that she couldn’t have found fulfillment doing any other thing.

Asked to state the secret of her trim and good looks, Kenny in response disclosed that the secret for her remains being mindful of what she takes into her body.

She said: “I give myself a lot of rest. I don’t eat heavy but I eat well. I also try not to eat late at night. I also exercise and am just a bit mindful about what I take into my body.”

Kenny’s career ambition is to set up a casting and networking agency that should be able to solve some of the problems she encountered at the early stages of her career.

“I am working on setting up something on my own. I want to be able to solve some of the problems I had when I was coming up which is networking and communication. It was hard to know where a casting was taking place. It was hard to know who was legit and who was just doing it to defraud people or take advantage of people. But if there is an agency that will make it clear, people will rely on the agency. I also know that I will end up on a talk show programme. That is what I call my ten years from now dream,” she surmised.