Actor Victor Olaotan in this interview with ORUKPE NELSON speaks about his career, family and an enduring wish.

Was acting your initial ambition in life?

To be frank with you, I got my feet wet in 1959 on the set of Ola Rotimi’s Gods are Not to Blame and since that time, I knew this is what I wanted to do. I was a footballer, I played football a bit for Water Corporation, Ibadan, Oyo State, but then I was going to NTA Ibadan to do a little play here and there until I met a producer named Laolu Ogunniyi. He’s now a professor at Leeds University.

He just came back from England as a young man; he had a play titled ‘Candle in the Wind’. He’s the one that brought soap opera into Nigeria. He also did ‘Wind Against My Soul’, so, I started with him. In the wake of the show, I left the country and that was why I never finished with them. That was where I started my career from.

How long did you stay abroad and what were you doing?

I lived abroad for over 20 years. I was in New York for some time but I lived in New Jersey. I went to a school of arts in New Jersey, I have a master’s degree in theatre arts and I married there for 17 years. I worked there too for many years. I came back home in 2002.

Did you feature in any Hollywood film?

I had opportunities to be in some movies but some things came up and I couldn’t. But I went to Shakespeare Festival and played Othello in Shakespeare. I took a production, ‘SizweBansi is Dead’, to Canada and parts of USA. I did a few plays here and there. I’m one of the few Nigerians who performed on Broadway. We did a play from Nigeria with Dr. Adedeji, I can’t remember its title but it was a dance theatre production. We performed on Broadway, Lincoln Centre and National Arts Theatre.

How do you feel about the fact that theatre has lost its allure?

It’s very sad because we don’t have a very strong foundation in arts and that’s why stage production is gradually phasing out. I honestly think that the schools are not teaching literature and English enough. You see a graduate and he can hardly speak well and it’s part of the reason they don’t appreciate art. We need to re-orientate our children to appreciate the art.

You’re back home but left your family abroad…

Well, you may be right. I left some of them abroad, I have family here too.

Are you implying you’re a polygamist?

I don’t have many wives. I’m married to one woman and we have three children, but I have five children altogether.

Were the additional children adopted?

No, they’re my children but from another woman.

What do you make of the discrimination among Nollywood, ANTP, Kannywood and so on?

If you’re a professional actor, you would appreciate any form of art. Actually, theatre started with the Yoruba before the English. Though, English has been performing for more than 100 years in Nigeria, a lot of people don’t know that but Professor Adedeji who was my boss in theatre arts wrote his thesis on the Alarinjo theatre which was what Hubert Ogunde, Duro Ladipo, Ogungbe, Oyin Adejobi and the rest of them practised. They’re itinerant theatre practitioners in the Alarinjo theatre.

Didn’t you feel some exhaustion at some point in the Tinsel series? It appears to be really long.

Not really, every now and again, you get a little tired and they’ll give you a break. So, the people who brought Tinsel to us have the know-how of the business and it’s well managed.

There’s also the issue of Nollywood producers paying more than the Yorubas…

Well, I wouldn’t see it like that. I think the pay is relative to performance. Sometimes, we have some Yoruba actors who earn up to N1m in a play, it depends on the character. For example, you can’t pick Funke Akindele to come and collect N200,000.

After many years of acting, it’s amazing you’ve not produced a film of your own…

Well, I was trained in the US. I learnt to give and expect nothing but excellence. So, if it’s not going to be excellent, I won’t venture into it. The reason you’ve not seen my film is because I’ve not got enough fund to make a film. I don’t know what to call what’s going on in Nigeria right now. It’s a good effort for the practitioners, but if I don’t have a good capital, it’s not worth doing then.

You’re always looking dapper. How did the fashion part of you evolve?

I think I’ve been blessed to have a mother who was a fashionista and I have a wife who is a fashionista too. She’s a costumier, so if I dress from home, she takes a look at me and tells me how not to dress. I’ve always loved to dress well. When I was in the US, I bought shoes worth $2,000 plus when my mates were paying $200 for their shoes.

What would you love to do if you had a second chance?

If I have a second chance, I would rather be acting in Hollywood than in Nollywood because I know it would be better for me financially. But apart from that, it’s the same profession.

Do you think it’s too late?

Well, it’s not too late, if tomorrow one of these big guys in Nollywoods comes here and says he wants an old figure like me, I’ll oblige him. I can even bring home an Oscar.

You look really fit despite the grey hair; what’s the secret of your fitness?

I look like this because I was an athlete. I was a fantastic athlete growing up. I did all sports, I was one of the first trained swimmers in Nigeria. I keep that up. I still swim, I play tennis and I play football with my children sometimes.

You own a laundry company; how do you combine this with your acting career?

Well, the business, Clean Ace, which is managed by a very great man, EniIbukun Adebayo is taking care of itself. While I do other things, the machinery has been put in place, it’s just as effortless as putting your clothes in the washing machine and they come out clean. Clean Ace is doing well.