Nollywood: Stereotyping is not bad – Chimezie Imo
Nollywood actor, Chimezie Imo, has argued that stereotyping in the filmmaking industry has its benefits and is not as bad as people make it look.
According to Imo, who starred in the award-winning movie, ‘Breathe of Life’, while stereotypes can limit an actor’s potential, they can also highlight an actor’s strength.
He stated, “I’m of the opinion that stereotyping is not really a bad thing, especially in the movie scene, because it only means that you’re really good at something, and everyone can tell, and it’s okay to be good at one thing. But there’s so much an actor has that you don’t want to be kept in a box.
“Sometimes even when you get those stereotyped roles you can have conversations to tweak it a little bit. For example, there was a script that I had and it was supposed to be emotional and I said, ‘Okay can I be emotional without crying?’ I didn’t shed a tear in that film. There are other ways you could be emotional without shedding tears.”
Speaking further, Imo condemn the unwelcoming environments actors are made to face during auditions for a movie role.
“Auditions challenge you. One of the worst things is getting a ‘No’ or getting in front of some people and losing all your lines and whatever, that is also because of most of our casting directors here.
“I think we also need to do better. We don’t know how to make people comfortable and warm, just a bunch of straight faces looking at you like they’re about to stab you, and that line you’ve been rehearsing for 3 weeks just flies.”
