Adunni Ade has opened up on her struggles finding roles in her early days in Nollywood because of her skin tone.
The actress, whose mother is of Irish ancestry, but has a Nigerian father, said in a recent interview with Channels TV that it was tough to find acting roles because, “scripts are not written for people who look like me.”
“I have said this quite a few times, and whenever I say this, it’s not about me being negative or trying to put the film industry in a negative light. But you really have to be sincere if you want to talk about filmmaking. Script are not written for people who look like me because, typically here in Nigeria, we are all black,” she told Channels TV.
She added that though there is a rise in skin lightening even in Nollywood, being light sinned and being partly white are two different things.
“Yes, a lot of females, even males, will like to be light skinned, maybe add one of two things to look light skinned, but being light skin and having this colour are two different things. They can still pass and still get roles easier than I would. I’m more on the white side,” she said.
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But she added that she didn’t allow this to deter her from creating in the Nigerian film industry. She has since pursued a career as a producer, including on the 2021 movie, Soole.
“Because I wasn’t getting the roles that I wanted, it pushed me into filmmaking,” she said during the interview. “And one of the core things I said I will never do is to cast someone based on their colour. Everybody, anybody, as long as you’re human, you will always have a chance on my set. As long as you can interpret the character, I will give you a shot,” she added.
