Nigerian rapper, Omoniyi Raphael better known as Zlatan Ibile has disclosed that it took months for him to master his role in the movie, Gangs of Lagos.
The hip-hop artiste played the role of a notorious gangster in the crime thriller called Kash. He mentioned that his role was quite difficult to play.
During a recent chat with media personality, Samuel Eni, Zlatan Ibile told the host that it took months for him to learn the karate moves for the movie.
He also disclosed that he quit music temporarily to focus on mastering his role in the movie that premiered on 7th April 2023.
In Zlatan’s words:
“I have always wanted to act. I had a picture in my head. But I didn’t want it to be just any kind of movie. So, when I was called up that they wanted me to be in a movie by Amazon Prime, I said, ‘Yes, this is the actual one I want.’
“It took me months to go learn those Jet Li moves, Jackie Chan moves. It was stressful a little bit. I took out my time. I had to like pause recording music for a while. It took us like two months or so and then we rounded up [with the shooting of the movie]. The movie was shot in 2021.”
Still on movie roles, Nigeria film actress, Bimbo Ademoye revealed why she wanted to play a different character in Gangs Of Lagos.
In Gangs of Lagos movie, Ademoye played the character of Teni, the daughter of a ganglord, Kazeem (played by Olarotimi Fakunle), who lives a sophisticated and sheltered life.
Opening up about her character in the movie at a recent press conference, Bimbo Ademoye disclosed that she first wanted to play the gangster character, Gift, which was played by Adesua Etomi-Wellington plays.
The reason according to her is because she could relate to the character based on her reality. Bimbo Ademoye said:
“When I got the script, I saw a particular character, Gift, breaking bottles. I’m from the hood, from Ebute Metta, and breaking bottles is a norm. The lifestyle is a norm for me, so I thought I was going to be Gift, but then I saw I was playing Teni. So I called Osiberu, who co-wrote, co-produced, and directed the film, to make sure she hadn’t made a mistake with the role she assigned me…but Jade responded saying she didn’t want me to play a character many would expect, and instead wanted me to be someone different.
“That kind of touched me because any time she wants to give me a character, she goes beyond something people would expect. That’s how much she believes (in me).”
WITHIN NIGERIA also recalls former Big Brother Naija reality show star cum movie actor, Tobi Bakre revealed that he did all manner of gritty stuff to fit into his role in ‘Gangs of Lagos’, a feisty crime thriller.
Tobi played Obalola, a street King (Eleniyi – the owner of men) who started up nondescript with a childhood nested with scars of little beginning.
He said it was his first time playing a lead character, and the first time he really let himself go to embody a character.
Tobi Bakre who was on the recent episode of Menisms audiovisual podcast said he was at a graveyard, and also drank strong alcohol in quick succession. Read more here
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