Being a star affected me both positively and negatively; but being a star has a lot of advantages.
Which of the movies you have starred in brought you to limelight?
Omo Olorire was the film that brought me to limelight in 2002; then Abesekele by Oga Bello and then Orire by Muyiwa Ademola. Both were released in 2003.
When did you start acting?
I started acting professionally in 2001. If I can recollect, I started with Omo Olorire, which incidentally was produced by my father, Prince Jide Kosoko. Before then, I had been acting. I starred in Ola Abata. It was my father’s movie as well, produced in 1999 and released in 2000. I also participated in Oko Irese, also produced by my father. It was released in 2001. Between 1999 and 2002, I featured in my father’s films. From 2002, other producers started beckoning. ‘Iya Rainbow’ (Idowu Philips) first called me for a role. Adamu Seniyan was about the second or third movie she invited me to participate. The same year, Taiwo Hassan (Ogogo) called me for his movie entitled: Tolulope. In 2003, Muyiwa Ademola called me for his own film too entitled: Ori, a movie that further gave me immense popularity.
You said earlier on that being a star has its advantages. Can you tell us some of these advantages?
For example, when I was still in school, whenever it was time to do my course clearance and the queue was so long and we were suffering under the scorching sun, because my face was familiar to the officials in charge, they would ask the other students to allow me in because I was a star. Some of the students would protest. That is one of the benefits, and I got a lot of them.
But it cannot be all positive; being a star must also have its own disadvantages
You are right. The negative side of it is that we spend a lot of money for street urchins or Area boys. They don’t want to know if you have the money or not. Sometimes you might be going out without much in your pocket, but they will collect at every junction. We cannot help it; it is the kind of society we have. I have been to Europe a number of times. When you are there, they don’t ask for money; instead they give you gifts. Someone once removed the SIM from his phone and gave it to me. But in our society, it is the other way round.
If you had not been an actress, what would you have been?
Initially I wanted to become a broadcaster; I love to be seen on TV, reading news. Maybe that was why it was easy for me to become an actress. But I also yearned to be a lawyer. Unfortunately, I did Industrial and Labour Relations for my diploma, so it was difficult to cross from Social Science to Law. Then, I said if I could not study Law, let me go and study Mass Communication, which unfortunately again is an Arts course at the Olabisi Onabanjo University. So, I went for Sociology.
The roles you played in the films produced by your father, did you get them on merit or did he create them to accommodate you?
My father is a professional. There are times when my stepmother would exclaim ‘that is Sola’s role’, but my father would not hear of it. He would say I could not play the role; that being his daughter does not mean I would be given a role just anyhow even when I do not deserve it. My father is a professional when it comes to that.
Since you became a professional, how do you pick your roles?
I scrutinise my scripts very well and ask myself if the film is the kind that I can participate in. For instance, a producer has been calling me for weeks now to come and take a role in a film; but when I went through the script, I discovered that it is not the kind of film I will like to participate in. I must know who the director of the film is.
What would you consider the most trying period of your life?
My staying at home for five years before I could get admission into the university. Though I was doing a certificate course, it was not like the real university. Then I was being called for movie jobs, so I became distracted. Sometimes there were forms that I was supposed to obtain, but I would keep procrastinating till I eventually missed the opportunity. Before my four-year degree progamme, I did a two-year diploma course. That experience hurt me.
How much was your first pay as an actress?
My first pay? Hmm. I can’t remember the title of the movie now, but it was produced by Adebayo Salami (‘Oga Bello’). I was paid N3,000. When I got home, my father shared the money. He gave my stepmother a share; he gave my brothers and sisters and I took the rest.
Are you a shy person?
Yes I am. Forget the fact that I am an actress. I always have a stage fright. When I see a crowd, I can easily forget everything I want to say and I will start stammering. But I think I am outgrowing it now. When it comes to my work, and I take to the stage, I become transformed.
Before you finally chose to marry your husband, how many men did you date?
I dated like a hundred (general laughter). Really, I didn’t have the experience. The man that is my husband has always been with me since I was in secondary school. I remember the first JAMB I wrote. We were doing the running together. At that time, he was already a graduate.
How was your growing up like?
Growing up was fun. My secondary education was at Aje Comprehensive High School, while my primary school was at Aje Methodist Primary School. Both schools are side by side at Ebute-Meta, along Borno Way, which used to be called WEMA Street. That was where I grew up in Ebute-Meta.
It was my grandmother who brought us up, my elder brother and my younger ones. We were staying with her, though my father was in Lagos. He was always traveling, always on tour. I lost my mum when I was very young. Whenever my father was around, he was always with us, playing with us, taking us to different places, like the Amusement Park.
Can you recall the day you lost your mum?
It was in September 1993.
Where were you that day when you got the news?
I was with my grandmother who, like I told you earlier, was training us before my mother’s death. It was my dad himself that came to break the news to my grandmother.
How did you react to the sad news?
The normal reaction when you lose someone you love; but because I was young, you won’t compare the kind of feeling that I would have then to what I would have now. If my mum just died now, the way I would feel is not the way I felt the other time. Then I just felt, ‘Oh, my mother died’ and I cried.
What would you say you would have benefitted from her if she was around?
I cannot begin to count the benefits. There were a lot of times when I was in the university, that I really felt the vacuum. A lot of mothers were always coming around bringing palm oil and other stuff for their daughters. That was when it actually hit me that I didn’t have a mum. My daddy could not bring palm oil.
He was always coming to see me, but it’s not the same as the impact of a mother. Secondly, when I was getting married, I felt that something was missing and that was my mum. Though I hardly cry, I felt the pain deep inside me. There are a lot of times I would remember her and I would cry, in my closet though.
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