Encomium
+ Why it’s been difficult to settle down
HANDSOME actor, Ayo Badmus, is perceived as a Casanova and has been linked romantically with many ladies, without any leading to marriage. Though, he admitted having two kids out of wedlock from two different women, the relationships that produced them, he refused to say much about. In an exclusive interview with AY, as he is fondly called, he told ENCOMIUM Weekly the story of his life and why he is still single. He also spoke on other issues…
What is happening to your career?
My career is getting better by the day. I have a lot of programmes. In few weeks, I promise I will let the cat out of the bag.
How often do you get scripts these days, because the impression is that you don’t feature in movies anymore?
There are times I get scripts and I return them. I do this because all of us can’t sleep and face the same side. We need to start thinking deep. There are a lot of complaints about our movies. People are saying they are not enjoying our jobs any more. Also, some people are ripping us off and we want to fight them, but we don’t have the machinery to do so and instead of us fighting them, some will still go at our back and beg them. But left to me, I won’t do that. Somebody should get up and do the right thing. We should go back and think more on what we can do to move this industry forward. That is exactly what I am doing now, not necessarily appearing in this and that movies all the time. That was why I had to stop accepting scripts. We have to do something different to beat the system that is letting us down.
What exactly is the greatest challenge facing the industry, apart from what you have just said?
Lack of education. Most of us are not educated and that is the only way you can start thinking. Education is not there and if you don’t have it, there are no two ways to it. One cannot have an initiative that can make the industry move forward and by the time one gets to a certain stage, you drop. You just have to acquire education. The second challenge is how do we return value for money? In the Yoruba arm of the movie industry, a lot of us see acting as just a hobby and not a serious business. If you check out very well amongst us (Yoruba) actors, majority of us still have our jobs, they only take acting as a hobby. They don’t take it serious as the rest do. The fees we earn are terrible and dehumanizing.
How much do you charge to feature in a movie?
It depends on the producer of the movie. I will sit down with whoever is producing the movie and discuss the amount I think is good for the role I am going to play. I don’t discuss my fees on the pages of papers.
What is your take on the issue of piracy being one of the greatest problems of the industry?
It is true. We have some people pirating our jobs. I don’t disprove that, but for how long shall we be giving that as an excuse? No matter how we fight these people, they would still be there. But despite that, life must continue. Instead of us blaming it on marketers today, pirates tomorrow, why can’t we find a way of surviving and stop giving unnecessary excuses. There are many options, many opportunities for us to continue as an association, to continue as an industry, all of us can’t face one direction and expect things to change.
Let’s go a bit private. What is the truth about the tale in town that Ayo Badmus doesn’t want to settle down, and that he’s busy sleeping with different ladies?
(Laughs) It is not true at all. It is just mere speculation. That is their impression about me and they didn’t get it right at all.
If that be the case, why has it been difficult for you to find the right woman?
I see my case as a special case. Some guys got all the luck, some guys got all they needed, some guys are just special, while some are not that lucky at all. You know if you fall, you don’t sit down, you will want to get up. My relationship with women didn’t start today, but any man that has problem with a woman, he has to sit down and go back to the drawing board. It is never too late for anybody, but getting it right is the most important thing. Try and think again and again, see where you went wrong, because whenever there is a problem like that in the life of a man, we always shift all the blames on women. Whereas men have their own percentage of the blame too. I don’t have to say it if not you. Already, I have a relationship that is so sound, but I just kept it low at the moment. You won’t see me moving around with any woman again because you pressmen are turning the whole thing to fun and I don’t enjoy it.
People have been seeing you with a lot of women. For instance, your much publicized relationship with your Lebanese lover, Maryam, don’t you think they are right in dubbing you a cassanova?
Let me correct an impression, what do you mean by me alone? You need to go deep. Don’t you see my like elsewhere even in this industry. We have some that their situation is even worse than mine. How can you say me alone?
But they talk of you more?
Why me? I won’t blame them, but I believe very soon, something good would happen in my life.
Does that mean you have found the right woman finally?
I can’t be happier.
But there was a time you told us that you had found the right woman, but at the end of the day, the whole thing crashed?
No, I never told anybody that. This is the first time I am saying this. I am saying it emphatically that this is it, but I won’t go beyond that. Everything is going to be good and the sun will rise again.
Don’t you consider it too late getting married at over 40?
It is never too late. It is better to be late than being late. I enjoy my life, I am having a good time.
That means you have been comfortable all this while without a wife?
So, you want me to kill myself? I have to enjoy my life, but I always know something is missing. What happened is that I chose the wrong woman in the past, but this time around, I have found my better half, which I will soon unveil to you and the general public.
Now, how old is AY?
I am sorry I won’t disclose that. But very soon, for the first time, I am going to celebrate my birthday. The whole world will be shocked.
When exactly is that happening?
As soon as it is time, I will call everybody and we will celebrate it. Just don’t be in a hurry.
We learnt you have two kids?
Yes, they are boys.
How old are they?
My first born is 15 while the second one is 5.
Are they from the same woman?
No, I had them from two different women.
What actually happened to these relationships, why did they crash?
That is a long story. It is not a story for today.
This story was first published in Encomium Weekly on Tuesday, October 5, 2010
