Popular Nollywood actress and filmmaker Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has stated that while she enjoys dancing, she will not participate in dance-driven movie promotions if it feels compulsory or staged.
The veteran actress shared her views during a recent appearance on TVC Entertainment, a clip of which was shared on Instagram on Tuesday.
“I’m sorry, I would not be doing the dancing. I’m very, very sorry. It’s just not me. I dance. I love to dance, I’m sure a lot of us love to dance,” she explained.
Omotola noted that much of the criticism around actors being expected to dance during promotions arises from the pressure to participate, rather than letting such moments happen naturally.
“I think the problem and the reason why a lot of people are kicking back at it is because you want to dance because you feel like it, not because you have to,” she said.
She clarified that there is no issue with actors dancing while promoting a film, as long as it occurs organically.
“There’s a difference, okay? So there’s nothing wrong with, oh, you know, you’re promoting a movie and you guys are just having fun. That’s different,” she added.
Omotola also emphasized that her primary duty as an actor ends with delivering a strong performance, while marketing and distribution should be left to professionals in those fields.
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“But when it becomes a chore, when it becomes, oh, this is what you have to do to even sell a movie, it’s not professional. I already did the project, you know, I should go around, you know, talk about the project, promote the project, and then let the people whose job are to distribute and do the advertising of the project to do that,” she said.
Her remarks come shortly after renowned filmmaker Kunle Afolayan expressed a similar stance, stating he would not dance to promote a movie and also highlighted his concern about disproportionate earnings from box office successes, saying he has no interest in producing a film that grosses ₦1 billion if his own share is only ₦10 million.