Tomiwa Sage: I knew i wanted to act

Tomiwa Kukoyi, popularly known as Tomiwa Sage, is a master of ceremony, actor and comedian. He holds a degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Ibadan. The actor who has featured in theatre productions has some movies to his credit, including, Gone, Breaded Life, Hakkunde, Stormy Hearts, A Day With Death and most recently, Hotel Labamba. He speaks to IJEOMA THOMAS-ODIA on his role in the film and his going into acting.

You transitioned from being an MC to acting. Is acting now your mainstay?
I STUDIED Theatre Arts and people should not forget this. In my life of professional work, I don’t think there is anybody who goes to school and studies Theatre Arts and can only do one thing. It is not possible. You should be able to act; you should be able to do all the things in the art forms. I started acting since 2003 though I left school in 2010. I have been in major stage production in this country, so this is not new for me. I did not transition – this has been there.

I think acting is what I was doing before I added every other thing to it. The whole idea is that you can maximise your skill set. If you can do data analysis and still do make up, why stop there? Keep going. I function in the same terrain – whether on stage, or in front of the camera, that is my platform. My lecturers would be happy that I am doing them proud.

Did you set out to be a creative person when you started doing Creative Arts?
I knew I wanted to act. I was always doing that from high school. I had done some dramas and joined some theatre troops. So I knew I wanted to be an actor. It was important for me.

Tell us about your role in the movie, Hotel Lambaba?
My role was Lumi in the movie. I was a friend with Big Berry, portrayed by Lateef Adedimeji. We were a bunch of very expressive young people, who got in touch with money and then at some point, things went wrong at a particular place so we decided to vacate it. Things went wrong, and because we looked the part we became the victims. The intrigue, the drama and the suspense all unfolding – it has been a tragedy, which you have to uncover. It was a beautiful experience.

What attracted you to the script?
Every time you talk to moviemakers, they say, ‘this story is different’. Just some months ago, there was a story about a young girl who died in a hotel with somebody she had lodged with. As I am talking to you, I am sure the police in charge of that case are probably still doing findings. You never talk about this enough. This story just talks about a whole weekend in a bloody hotel, and everything that could go wrong went wrong. I have not seen that kind of story in the last decade in any Nollywood movie. I am bold to say it is a new kind of story and that was what intrigued me to want to be in the production.

Accidental actors are all over the place now. Some skit makers are jumping into movies. Would you say that stage makes you a better actor?
I will tell you the thing about the 10,000-hour rule. Even if you are bad at something, if you spend 10,000 hours on it, you become great at it. I don’t have problem with anybody that has the talent. Let’s be honest, some people are natural. If you are a professional and you don’t hone your skill, you become redundant. I would just love anybody who thinks they can act to get some training in acting. Don’t think because you can say a few things you can automatically act. Yes, you can do skits, they are short in time, they are spontaneous and they invoke emotions. But when you have to go deeper into character analysis and breaking down, it takes more than just having a flare. My career and profession is not a flare. It is serious.

With stage actors transitioning to screen, do you think it is proper for screen actors to transition to stage, given that the technicalities of stage are a bit different?
I do both, so I can give a very concrete opinion. The media industry is considered the most dangerous to human civilization. You can cut, edit and attach anything. There are people who pick their lines, and when you work with people like that, you know them – they are professionals. It is never easy. I remember when I was in school, there was a really popular actor that we all loved because we saw him on screen. Then he came on stage to act and then he forgot his lines and we could tell. It was ridiculous. I think it is always hard for them.

How affordable are you for screen productions?
I am as affordable as I am expensive. I am as affordable as the production. I don’t do a lot of movies, but there isn’t much money. Actors in a year shouldn’t do more than three jobs, and they should be fine. There are people doing almost 20 jobs in a year, and you can’t blame them. The stylist that you will see on a production might be worth over N200,000 and the movie set will pay you probably more than a quarter of that.
People have to juggle, it is important. We just hope that the industry gets better in terms of pay and severance conditions.