Tayo Faniran: Unfiltered

In a world where power and personal gain often silence true talent, Tayo Faniran is choosing honesty.

 

With no fear and no filter, he praised the pioneers of Nollywood, his peers who stayed back to build the industry, and even those behind the scenes who keep things going. But he didn’t stop there. He boldly called out the gatekeepers of Nollywood to stop making decisions based on selfish interests and friendships. “Art is spirit,” he said. “Art is God’s gift.” For Nollywood to truly grow, Faniran believes it’s time to let talent speak louder than connections and personal gain.

Faniran’s own story is the perfect example of what happens when purpose meets discipline. From being a top model to rising as the fan-favourite runner-up of Big Brother Africa Season 9, he has never stopped evolving. Instead of chasing only fame, he returned to Nigeria and built a new name for himself in Nollywood. With roles in Gangs of Lagos, Ada Omo Daddy, Labake Olododo, and more, Faniran proves that he’s not just talented, he’s intentional. A man of principle, passion, and presence, Tayo Faniran stands for something, speaks with conviction, carries himself confidently, and lives by his values.

 

In this interview with THEWILL DOWNTOWN’s Dorcas Akintoye, Tayo Faniran discusses the state of Nollywood, the need for change, his evolution as a creative, and why he believes the industry is on the verge of something bigger.

 

You’ve evolved so much from where the public first met you. What would you say is the most misunderstood part of your journey so far?

 

I feel like the story has been written, and I’m just a character in it. But so far, so good. I have a clear understanding of everything I’m doing, everything I’ve done, and everything I’ve become. I am fully aware of my starting point, how I got to where I am, and how I want to get to where I’m going. So, I don’t think I have anything in my heart that I’m harbouring. People misunderstand people every day. You can say something, and other people may misconceive it. It’s just a normal human life thing. So, I don’t think I have anything personal to share in that regard in terms of maybe something that I would say that maybe people misconceive me on.

 

I know that I’ve grown, and I know that I’m still growing. That’s what is important. So, there were things that maybe I used to do when I was younger, or that I used to, you know, I had some beliefs or some ideologies when I was younger. Now that I’m more mature, I mean that I’m older, I’m more mature with my ideologies and diplomacy.

 

I practice more diplomacy because I’m no longer a young chap. Today, I’m, like, I have to be a responsible businessman. Yeah, it’s important how I make people comfortable. Whether people are closer to me or people are far from me, it’s important to me that people feel comfortable because when I just gotten back from South Africa, and maybe like in other world or people book me for jobs and, eventually after meeting me and getting to know me, they’ll be like, oh, you’re such a sweet person. Like, we didn’t know. So, maybe people judging by picture and all of that may have a different idea of a person. And then when they meet you, eventually they realise who you are, which is normal. So, I’m good.

 

You’ve starred in major films like Gangs of Lagos and Ada Omo Daddy. What was your first acting role, and how did it challenge or affirm your talent?

 

My first professional acting role was Tinsel. So, as a professional model in South Africa, I was always in TV commercials. But TV commercials were always like, maybe short scripts. Sometimes they don’t even have dialogues, you know. But the first professional acting gig that I got was Tinsel. And that was right after Big Brother Africa.  I remember I was with Wanky. I always say this as a Yoruba man, if I tell you that there’s fire burning on the water, I will be able to show you the ashes. So it’s not like I’m just name-dropping. But I remember in her office that year, she asked me, What would you want us to do for you? And because that time, I wasn’t even thinking of relocating back to Nigeria at all. So, I just said anything that would not make me stay in Nigeria.

 

So, my role on Tinsel, I knew it was temporary. I was on another TV show like that. I had a few things like that to do. But at that time, for me, it was more of a, let me just participate or let me just do it. I wasn’t too much into it that time. However, the reaction from the people I got was what made me realise that these people will think this is the best I can do.

 

Like, they feel like this is all I have, you know. So, I need to now start to develop myself to prove to them that I actually have a lot more. So, that was how Tinsel has been able to sharpen me. I would say it was my first experiment as an actor. And the response that I got, the reaction that I got at that time wasn’t really the type of standard that I would be proud of. So, at that point, I realised that people expected, more of me in whatever I do. Even if, to me, it’s not really important. But I must make sure that I give my best in whatever I do. So, since that time, I’ve always kept this at the back of my mind.

 

And I kept on finding myself, finding my gifts, you know, my talent, because it’s always been within me. You know, today that I know acting really well, I know that, yes, I’ve actually always had it. I just didn’t know how to tap into it. But today, I give God the glory because he has helped me to hack it.

 

As someone who didn’t start in theatre or film school, how did you hone your acting skills? What process or practices helped you evolve on set? How do you prepare mentally and emotionally for a character?

 

I’m a very spiritual person. And when I’m saying this, I’m not talking about maybe religion only or whatever. I’m talking about how I feel things.

 

I think of things that will happen before they happen. They are just different. My instinct is really sharp. I’m so spiritually aware. So, when I want something, the first thing I’ll do is to tap into it spiritually. Like, I will just start connecting to it. I’m thinking about it. I’m praying about it. I’m imagining it. I’m daydreaming about it. When I watch a film, I’m lost in the actor. As in learning what the actor is doing, how the actor is doing it. All of these things, I’ll be doing it, you know, like, you know, spiritually. I’ll put my emotions, everything into it. And then, I also, I was watching, you know, like videos, you know. But some of the videos that I also watched were things that I knew I needed to acquire as an actor. So, I’ll just search and then I’ll learn maybe from professionals who have put videos out there on like YouTube and all of that. I watch content. They will teach you. I also collected materials. And also, most importantly, I had some films that I featured in that also served as the practicals of what shaped me into who I am today. Most of them are not big films like the ones I’m doing today.

 

But those directors, someone like Mike Ezuruonye, I will never forget the brother, you know. When I came back from South Africa, his project, I did one project with him for Rock TV. I can’t remember the title. So, he was the director.

 

He’s the director of that film. So, that was when I just got back. He just booked me for that job. And while we were working together, he gave me a point that to today I still remember. He was like, he called me one day after I shot a few scenes. He said, Tayo, why are you always turning your back to the camera? Like when you are performing, there’s something that is just always making you to just, you will just be turning like there’s a force that’s turning you away from the camera. So, I was like, okay, what do you think that could be? He was like, it must be that you’re just camera conscious and your mind is there. So, you are kind of like shy with your performances. So, you are hiding from the camera. So, you are to perform to the camera. That’s what makes you an actor. You know what I’m saying? And look, till today, I don’t think there’s anything that can separate the love between me and the camera. Once I’m on a set, the director will be watching me on the monitor, smiling throughout. You know what I’m saying? That’s what directors get today because of that point that he gave me. Also, working with my colleagues, you know, I’ve worked with some of my colleagues in South Africa, here in Nigeria. And I watched, you know, people think I have so much pride.

 

You know what I’m saying? Because I know why. I’m confident. But I’m not arrogant. I’m not disrespectful. I’m the most modest person that you could ever meet. People will tell you, people who have met me or who have worked with me will testify to that. That I’m very modest, very calm, very simple on set. I’m cool with all the camera crew. You know what I’m saying? I’ll go to them. They will show me playbacks of myself. The sound guys, they will let me listen to my voice.

 

My colleagues that I’m working with, I’m not going to say that, let me not let this person know that I don’t know this thing. I was asking questions. Some of them gave me some points that I still remember to today, you know. So, it was even until after Gangs of Lagos, that I now started going to LA for some workshops and all of that.

 

I’m preparing to go again. There are short courses, not just workshops for some days because of time as well. Because I have projects here. So, I’m always working on myself. I spend time in front of the mirror a lot. I also play with my looks a lot. If you watch all my films now, I look different. I have different characters in all of them.

 

And today, I even met some of my fans and they can’t recognise me. They will be talking about me, that I’m not this person. I’ll be smiling in my mind because, you know, my looks change all the time. If you see me now, I don’t look like Nino of Gangs of Lagos. What I played in Labake Olododo as Jaiyeoba doesn’t look like what I played in Anikulapo. What I played in Anikulapo looks nothing like what I played in The Fire and the Moth. I just finished a project of mine that I produced, Bodija. What I look like in there, what I sounded like, my attitude, my countenance and everything in that film also, is another thing that will shock people again because it’s a totally different person. So, I’m constantly working on myself. I’m constantly developing myself. I’m constantly finding myself because you can never know it all.

 

What are your thoughts on the current state of Nollywood? What excites you, and what do you think needs to change or improve?

 

So, the current state of Nollywood right now, I would say that, as I always say, and this is not because of public or whatever, I always show so much appreciation in my heart, from the bottom of my heart, to our predecessors, you know what I’m saying? People who have come before us, especially those who are late, who did not even stay up till now to enjoy most of the things we are enjoying now. Without them, there wouldn’t have been anything for us today to all gather and share. I also always give a shout out to even some of my colleagues, like my peers, people who are not too old, way older than me, people who are like my age mates and all of that, who stayed back.

 

You know what I’m saying? When people like us were not here and, you know, they were still pushing Nollywood and they pushed it to a level that it became attractive enough for people like us to say, oh, let’s go back home now for Nollywood. They’ve done amazingly well. So with everything going on in the industry, we must always still be appreciative of where we have gotten to. The journey has been so long and today we have something solid that we all look up to, right? The only thing that I would say is that I think the gatekeepers are the ones who should just be truthful to themselves, to not let power, ego, that part where they begin to put their own self-interest above the art, because they are major custodians of the art, and art is spirit. They should not disrespect art. Art is God’s gift. So, they should, for Nollywood to go to where we really want it to get to, look at what is happening at Afrobeats.

 

Afrobeats is having the breakthrough, because if Sony Records wants to deal with, maybe, Burna Boy, they will go to Burna Boy and his team. If, maybe Empire Records or Rockafella or something maybe they want to deal with Olamide now, they will go to Olamide and his team directly. But in Nollywood, it’s not like that. When the big things come into the industry, they go to certain people, and those certain people are the people that should please let start using their church minds more to put their selfinterest.

 

I don’t want to say selfish, but their own interest, they should put it aside, and they should always let art prevail. E.g., let’s give things to people that really deserve those things, because we know they can actually deliver those things. Not because, oh, this person is my person, or these are the people we party together, or these are the people that we wrote together, or whatever. If we can put aside all our selfish interest and our own differences, and we all focus on the arts, we would be surprised how big Nollywood has already become. We already have everything we want. We just need to, put all these differences aside and always think about the arts. I will work perfectly well in this industry with someone that I’m not cool with, because of the projects, because I want to make sure that the project is executed. I know, yeah, we’re not friends, or I’m nobody’s enemy, I don’t hate nobody, I don’t have bitterness in my heart for anyone, but I’m just saying, even if I know that we’re not cool, but art brings us together in this industry, we are going to do that stuff. So, that is what we must always put first in any decision we make in terms of taking Nollywood forward. You see all this Netflix, Prime Video, all those things we’ve been hearing, which we are not really sure of, but we’re just hearing things, it’s just a phase.

 

As Nigerians, I know we always conquer. I know we always rise above challenges. I know it won’t be long before there will be bigger things, and even greater than what we’ve seen before will come now.

 

It’s important for players to position themselves in the right places, so that when these blessings begin to come, it will fall into the right hands.

 

In your view, do you think Nollywood is doing enough to position African stories for the global market?

 

We are doing enough.

Definitely, we are doing enough. I promise you. People are suffering to make films. Sometimes, there are many things that actually work against filmmaking in Nigeria, that mouths may not be able to explain, except you get into it, then you experience it by yourself. Even some content that people will see, and they’ll feel like, ah, this nonsense content. People may have broken bones and lost some blood to create that. Do you get what I’m saying? So, people are really, really trying. We just need to keep trying more. To be more original, we should stay away from making content that look alike. Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, all our cultures. Let’s say I, as a Yoruba person, now, if I speak for my language and my culture, I can tell you that our culture and language are as colourful as our masquerades. It’s too colourful, like a rainbow, different colours.

 

That means we can tell our stories in different ways. Same genre can be interpreted or expressed in different ways. So, we should stay away from copying. Personally, when I want to play a role, everything I’m preparing for that role, I’m preparing it against the last role or the other roles I’ve played. In my mind, I’m thinking, I did this in that role, I don’t want to do it in the next role, so I won’t be tagged as the actor that is always doing this or that is always saying this. So, even me, I stay away from copying myself or repeating what I’ve done. So, people should refrain from repeating what others have done. Just come out with original stuff and add it to your own storytelling and artistic expression. But in all honesty, people are really trying. We just need to add a few touches here and there.