Popular Nigerian actor, Deyemi Okanlawon, has opened up on how his role in Nigeria’s Netflix original series, Blood Sisters, affected him mentally, oyogist reports.
Deyemi who featured as Kola Ademola, an abusive partner who brutalised his partners and gained pleasured from sketching them in pain in the recently released series which is seen as one of the top 10 trending movies in Nigeria on Netflix.
On his Twitter page on Sunday, the actor noted that perfecting his role in the movie was a mentally draining process.
He earlier tweeted, “Kola Ademola definitely affected me more than I care to admit and it took months to get to a semblance of normalcy. Strangely while I still firmly believe aggression should be met with justice, I now empathise with people who carry such demons.”
Shedding more light on the post, he added, “As Deyemi Okanlawon I pray to continue to defend victims of discrimination and violence with my life.
“However, as an ACTOR, my craft dictates in order to give the best performance I cannot judge a character’s life/actions but must become the character.
“In order to embody a character, I have to temporarily suspend my personal beliefs to truly understand who they are and why they do what they do.
“This is a very mentally draining process and oftentimes after such experiences I would need help and time to rediscover my true North.
“Being raised from childhood not to ever hit a woman it was pure torture to now have to push past that to get to the point where the rage and emotions (which my scene partner also needed for her performance) were real yet have the willpower to ensure there was no physical contact.
“Having walked through such a depraved mind as Kola’s, I am now convinced that people who physically abuse others are mentally damaged and possessed by their personal demons likely born out of childhood trauma/poor parenting/societal or other factors.”
An exposé on the series by Variety revealed that the actor had to undergo therapy in the course of acting as Kola.
Nollywood heavyweights such as Kate Henshaw, Ramsey Noah, Gabriel Afolayan, Nancy Isime, Ini-dimma Okojie and others appeared in the suspenseful thriller.
