‘My voice once got me a job’ – Actor Yemi Blaq

He spoke about how his voice got him a job, the high rates of divorce in the industry and his job.

On his voice getting him a job: “I shot a movie in 2007, titled, ‘Letters to a stranger’, but apart from the fact that I looked like the character they wanted; my voice was important in getting me the role. All my brothers talk like me, it’s in the gene. At age 17, I called in on a radio programme, and the managing director of the radio station was the one hosting the programme on that day.

“After the telephone call, he asked me to come the next day and he offered me a job. I thanked him but I couldn’t accept the offer because I wasn’t ready for a job at the time. I am happy my fans love my voice, sometimes when I listen to myself, I also like it. I wanted to focus on my music career then, I wanted to be on stage rapping, singing and doing my things.

“I have recorded a couple of songs, but I am a perfectionist when it comes to music. I am not going to put out anything that doesn’t represent my thoughts and aspirations. I am currently working on some of my songs; they are not the regular secular songs, so I was advised to release them with videos.

“My most cherished physical attribute would be my height, I wanted to be much taller than I am when I was young, but God decided to stop me at 6ft3. My son is going to achieve that for me so I am happy; I wanted my height to stop at 6ft7.”

On his roles in movies: “I have had a couple of challenging roles, there was a time I played the role of a rapist; which has nothing to do with my personality. I interpreted the role so well. The actress I acted alongside had to ask me if that was my real personality; I was satisfied with that comment because it meant I interpreted the role well.

“I love my job so much and I look forward to exploring different roles. Anytime I am going on set, I look forward to meeting new people and challenges. I always feel good when my fans give me positive feedback.”

On failed marriages in the entertainment industry: “There are many failed marriages everywhere, the ones in Nollywood are more pronounced because there are more news stories about celebrities than regular people. It is an anomaly affecting the society today; there is a paradigm shift when it comes to relationships and families. I would advise women to talk to their sons more about what women really desire in a relationship.

“Fathers should also talk to their daughters more about how they should behave in marriage. When I met my wife, we had mutual respect for each other; it wasn’t about the physical attributes, it was about the talent and intellect.

“I have always been sapiosexual; I am not about a woman’s physique; I am about a woman’s mind. Unfortunately, I discovered there are not too many intelligent women around because the society seems to force women to become shelves. The next generation is likely to be affected because a high percentage of a child’s intelligence is got from the mother”