Tag: funke akindele

Funke Akindele, the Nollywood actress and filmmaker, has revealed that she earned her first ₦1 million in 1999 from her breakout role as “Bisi” in the popular educational TV series I Need to Know.

In a video posted on her X account, Akindele reflected on her early acting journey, revealing that the path to success wasn’t smooth.

She recalled starting out in 1996, taking minor “waka pass” roles and facing several rejections at auditions before her big break finally came.

“I made that around 1999. I started my career from like 1996, playing waka pass roles, 1997 going for auditions, getting a lot of nos,” she said.

The actress further explained how her perseverance paid off when she was eventually cast in the TV series ‘I Need to Know’.

“Then I got one big yes with I Need to Know, and that is how I got my first ₦1 million.”

Speaking on how she used the money, Akindele revealed that the first person she informed was her mother, who encouraged her to pay her tithe before spending any part of it.

“What did I do with one million naira? First, I showed it to my mom. Of course, she knew about it, and then mommy advised that I have to pay my tithe first,”

“I paid my tithe, then I entered Yaba because I didn’t have shoes. I changed my wardrobe, shoes, bags, everything. The girl that had no shoes yesterday has today.”

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Funke Akindele has revealed that her new movie, Behind The Scenes, was inspired by a divine instruction that completely altered her original production plans.

During the FilmOne end-of-year exhibitor showcase, the acclaimed filmmaker revealed that she had initially planned to work on the sequel to ‘A Tribe Called Judah’ and had already begun rehearsals and negotiations before being spiritually led to make a different film.

The 38-year-old award-winning movie producer said that despite attempting four other scripts and exploring potential collaborations, she continued to receive divine instructions to set them aside.

Akindele said the idea for ‘Behind The Scenes’ was born from a single moment of inspiration, which she described as “deeply relatable and reflective of what many people experience in real life”.

“We weren’t supposed to release ‘Behind The Scenes’. I actually wanted to release ‘A Tribe Called Judah 2’. We’d even started rehearsals, negotiations, you know, training. But the Spirit of God kept telling me, ‘No, you will not shoot that film,’” she said.

“We tried, we tried almost four other scripts, lovely scripts, and the Spirit of God said, ‘You are joking’. We even wanted to partner with someone, a fantastic actor and filmmaker, but the Spirit of God said, ‘You’re wasting your time. You will shoot this film.’

“And the idea just came from one scene, and I said, ‘This is relatable’. A lot of people are going through what is happening in this film, what is going to happen, what you’re going to see in this movie.”

‘Behind The Scenes’, which stars Tobi Bakare, Veeiye, Uzor Arukwe, Ini Dima-Okojie, and Ibrahim Chatta, is set to hit cinemas nationwide on December 12.

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Funke Akindele, Nollywood’s box office star, is aiming to set new records with her upcoming movie, Everybody Loves Jenifa, set to premiere in cinemas on December 13, 2024.

Akindele is aiming for an ambitious target of N5 billion in ticket sales, leveraging her signature grand marketing style and months of advance promotion.

Speaking at a recent Exhibitor Soirée, she expressed her confidence, stating, “We can beat N5 billion; I have faith.”

The actress also urged the audience to combat piracy, which she said had impacted her previous film, A Tribe Called Judah.

With her determination and proactive campaign, Akindele is poised to make history once again.

“I plead with you guys, I know things are hard now but I want to beg you to be security conscious. People use their phones to film. Remember what happened to us last year, with A Tribe Called Judah? Please let’s be very careful, let’s be vigilant. It’s our movie.

“We want to make money from it. Imagine what we would have made if A Tribe called Judah wasn’t pirated. But we thank God. This is another opportunity, please protect this film for me. Please I beg you in the name of God, no phones. We had to record a video to tell people, no recordings,” she said.

The movie boasts an impressive cast, including Akindele herself as Jenifa, Folarin ‘Falz’ Falana as Sege, and other notable actors like Jackie Appiah, Nancy Isime, and Patience Ozokwor.