Former president of the Theatre Arts and Movie Practitioners Association of Nigeria and veteran actor, Dele Odule, has expressed dismay that a lot of young actors in the industry didn’t have respect for those who got into the business before them.

According to Odule, the lack of regulation in the industry is at the root of some of these problems in the business.

He said,

“It is in this industry that a particular actress would go on a ranting spree on social media because another actress did not address her as aunty. If you look back at my set and Jide Kosoko’s set and those who are older, you could never find things like this happening.

“The young generation artistes are the people messing up the industry and this goes back to what I have always said about the lack of standards in the industry. 

In those days, I used to address every actor who was older than me in the profession as sir or ma, though I didn’t take tutelage from them. But that doesn’t happen anymore. Now, they just call you uncle.”

Odule celebrated 40 years on stage in 2017. The veteran said that talent was the most important factor every actor needed to succeed in the industry.

He said

“No matter what anybody tells you differently, the single, most important factor to succeed in the industry is talent. If you have money and connections without talent, you may become popular but you wouldn’t last. Nowadays, a lot of people come into the industry thinking they can make it just because they have good looks. Well, I don’t blame such people because the industry has been bastardised and it has become an all-comers affair.

“In those days, you could never come into the industry without proper training. But these days, it seems nobody cares about that and everybody does whatever they feel like. It is indeed sad and I am worried for this profession. For people like me, this is the only job I have and I wouldn’t want to see it go to ruin.”