EXCLUSIVE: ‘There’s No Retirement For Me’- Olu Jacobs Speaks To NET At 71

When my colleague and I arrived at the Ajah, Lagos residence of veteran actor, Olu Jacobs, we did not know that we were in for one of the most exciting interviews of our careers. 71 this year, Jacobs turned out to be almost as witty and informed as any professional with that baritone voice that often leaves indelible impressions on his audience. This interview eventually turned out be two hours of intriguing discussion on family, Nollywood and politics.

Looking at your journey through your career, how fulfilling has it been? When we started, people didn’t think that there was any road there. I remember that a lot of my friends didn’t respect what I was doing, but they always said ‘Olu, you are different‘. I will say ‘how different am I?’ If you don’t like and respect somebody in my profession just because of your own bias, how can you say I am different? I am not different; it is to me that those insults are being passed. It went as far as some people dodging me because I came to their offices to see them. Those friends that didn’t respect my talent, I had to stay away from them and I was mingling more with people that were in entertainment like me. At the end of the day, I am what I am today and to the glory of God it has been a very fulfilling experience. You and your wife are usually tagged Nollywood’s most celebrated couple. How did you meet? I was having a meeting at the National Theatre and the door opened a young lady came in. I looked at her. I have never met her before in my life and I said to the people in the room ‘ladies and gentlemen, this is the lady I am going to marry‘. Everybody laughed. She looked at me up and down, hissed and left. Today, she is my wife and that was 27years ago. With the rate at which celebrity marriages are crashing, how have you been able to keep it together? It is God. There are other forces outside that you need to take cognizance of but when you do, you have to make sure that they don’t take control over your life. You are now thinking for two. No decision you take should be for yourself alone. It’s for two and it must remain for two. You have to always remember that. If my wife goes out, and she finds out that she would not be able to make it back at the time she initially thought she would, she picks up the phone and calls me to tell me. Fine! You are thinking for two, she knows where I am, I know where she is. We still do this till tomorrow. Communicating like that helps a lot, once we are talking, you have an idea of where I am and I have an idea of where you are. I am not saying that it should be every minute calls. Sometimes just being together in a room not necessarily saying anything is also important. So who cooks for you when she is not around? I am very familiar with the kitchen. Sometimes, I say, ‘okay everybody move, I want to do the cooking today’. I was a bachelor for a long time and I made sure that no woman would come and do ‘iyanga’ for me. I can cook anything; fish, chicken, different types of dishes, I can cook them. I feel at home in the kitchen so if she is there, I can come and join her though sometimes she drives me away.

How do you resolve your quarrels when you have one? You learn not to pick on anything your partner says. It interferes with the relationship. If something happens and you want to discuss it, discuss it till the two of you resolve it. Why won’t we argue? I have a mind, she has a mind so why shouldn’t we argue. We must argue but as we do so, we must finish up that argument so we can start another one. We must quarrel, it is resolving it that is the task. Anybody can fight but how many can sit down and resolve it? You must finish one fight before another and you cannot jump because if you jump it will pull you back. We thank God and pray to him to continue to guide us and give us the wisdom to relate properly, and to be as fair and honest as possible. Apart from that, we just take it as it comes. Since you got married, your wife has maintained her maiden name. Why has she not adopted your own name? She is her own individual. When I met her, she was an actress known as Joke Silva so why should marrying me now deny her and her audience her name. She is Miss Joke Silva who is Mrs. Joke Jacobs. It is as simple as that. People now begin to say what they like. They have even written that we are separated and all sort of stuffs. When she is working, she is Joke Silva but she is Mrs. Joke Jacobs at home. What are those things you really love about her and the things you don’t really like about her? Sometimes, she insists on things. Even when we have resolved it, she will still bring it back. She thinks more of others. She will think of you and remind you of things that need to be reminded of. She is always happy to help anybody. For her it’s not an effort. She cares a lot and of course, we are all boys in the house so she mothers all of us. That’s the way, we handle it, so whatever we need to do, we discuss it. You are both very busy people, how do you find time for your children? They are grown-ups now but we are still together. When we are together, we ask the children what they think of this or that. You don’t leave them out of it, they have come into the circle and they did not choose to come, we asked them to come so we must make the time to make sure that we look after them, guide them and be with them. Sometimes, that is more important than saying anything, just being with them gives them that extra calmness. You know in our job, we do a lot of travelling, but if I don’t have anything to do outside, what am I looking for? I have the phone, if I have to book an appointment I do so. If I have to go out I go out and if I don’t have to go out, I don’t go out and I am quite happy.

All through your career, which moment has been the most memorable that may have caused you to be thankful that you choose this profession? Any award is humbling. I feel humbled that in fact I have been able to touch people, which is why I came into the business so every award does that even more so, when you least expect. I had an award, AMAA award (2007) I didn’t know I was going to win. I believed in the AMAA award and give them support. I was told one of the movies I did with Tchidi Chikere (Director) and acted alongside Rita Dominic got a nomination. When I got to the venue, that was when I saw the program. They said they wrote me a letter but I didn’t see it. After a while, I felt like walking out but decided to stay for a while. When they got to the category, they announced me as the winner. It was very humbling and Bayelsa where the award was held happens to be a state that I am very fond of. With your years of acting and experience, do you plan to take up other roles such as producing and directing like other actors have done? Is there any other role for a character like me? I can still play the role of a father, grandfather, uncle and the likes. I would not go and play a school boy. It is as simple as that. I am not taking any role from anybody so why should you be expecting me to write. Do I write? I could produce because I care about the profession and whatever product we bring out. I could direct but my main passion is acting, so if I am handling a production. I will make sure the artiste, technicians and my principles got a fair share. Nobody must cheat because I have been on both sides of the divide and I know some producers and directors do. When I go there, I pre-empt making sure that everybody is fairly treated. If this industry is going to grow, then fairness has to come in. You seem to feature more in English movies than the Yoruba movies, why is that so? I don’t choose that. It is unfortunate. Now, I am here with a script I am working on. Somebody has taken the time to inform me well ahead of what I am going to do. I have looked it up in principle, and said yes. Maybe a week to the resumption of this one, some else will bring a Yoruba script, I can’t be on two sets at the same time. You should give me a bit more time. I have done some. I think I have booked myself for one next year, in the middle of January but I love the theatre, I love the joy of having the advantage of being able to do the two, English and Yoruba. How I wish I could speak Igbo too. Crying on set doesn’t seem to always be a problem for you. How do you always easily get out emotion out? It is called ‘emotion recall‘. It is something you have to practice on your own in your own room with the mirror. You must have a mirror that is long- that is one friend that will never lie to you. Whatever you put there is what you will see. You practice it and everything you think must show on your face. What makes you stand out as an actor is a lot of work. You have the script so you have to recall it at home, know how to handle it, know where your queue is from, where it begins to develop, where the camera can begin to pick it up so that by the time you say the next word, you are in the character and from there, you build up. The repetition of an act makes its performance almost automatic. Before I could reach here, it took a long time and practice. Aside acting, what do derive happiness in doing? It is still the same thing, I love anything to do with the business of acting, whether performing, producing, directing. Singing is another area that I like. I used to sing when I was much younger but I haven’t done that for a while. It was one of the things that helped me in the manipulation of words, when you can sing, you find it easier to speak and manipulate words. What is your take on actors that delve into other fields like politics, music, fashion and all of that? What we are just trying to do, especially those who want to go into politics is to gain recognition and a platform for other endeavours. They can use that platform to do other greater things in life. If they can handle the pressures that comes with it, goodluck to them. So, for me, it is really not a problem.

A lot of actors these days have been getting political appointments. Have you been approached for any and you turned it down? No, I am not a politician. I don’t see anything wrong in any appointment given to people. If they are capable, let them do it. I think it should be encouraged. People that are called are people that the government themselves are aware of and they know how good they are and how efficient they can handle the positions. If they don’t, the governor will remove or push them back. But generally speaking, I think it is good thing. There are certain people that the public respect and for a government to get those kind of people on their team is a big credit to the government. A few months ago, there was a rumour of your passing away. How did you feel when you heard the rumour? I am here, you can testify to that. I don’t know. Like I said, we are restless, we panic too much, we don’t get full information before we jump the gun. Maybe they just mentioned Olu, the next person will now add Jacobs to it and it spreads like that. Some people called me to verify and when they saw I was alright, they say we will talk later and drop the phone. Now, they will help debunk the rumour but that information will not move as fast as the one that talked of death. Considering your age, do you plan to retire anytime soon? I don’t know. Does one retire from life? My job is life so why should I retire from it. There is no retirement because everything I am passing through is life. Where do I retire from, from being grand-dad, uncle or dad? Culled from theNET