Nollywood actor and filmmaker Lateef Adedimeji has shared how he intentionally used crying scenes to carve a niche for himself in the industry.

Speaking on The Morayo Show, he explained that breaking into Nollywood was tough, and he needed a distinctive feature to make audiences remember him.

Adedimeji recalled being initially recognised for his resemblance to a senior colleague, and in a bid to create his own identity, he focused on perfecting emotional scenes, particularly crying, even when the role required just a few seconds of tears.

According to him, the strategy paid off, as viewers began to refer to him as the “crying machine” before they even knew his name.

The award-winning actor further stressed that versatility is essential for longevity in entertainment, adding that practitioners must be willing to learn and adapt across different aspects of the craft.

He said:

“When I came into the industry, it was quite challenging. I resembled one of my senior colleagues whom I love so much. People would say, ‘That guy who resembles Odun, Odun’s brother.’ It was a beautiful thing because they were comparing me to someone great, but at the same time, as a practitioner, people need to know you for something of you.”

“So I had to sit, did a lot of research, I asked myself, ‘What is it that people are not paying much attention to that is still important?’ So if I were given a role where I only had to shed tears for two seconds, I would mount pressure on it and make those tears come well.”

“So at one point, people started calling me a crying machine. They didn’t know my name, but they would say, ‘That guy who cries so much in movies’ when describing me.”

“That was when I knew I was getting somewhere because people were beginning to identify me with something that is of me; then, eventually, you get to know my name.”

“As an entertainer, you have to be versatile. You have to know a bit about everything.”