Jide Kosoko had an in-depth interview with Vanguard about his acting career, what influenced his decision to act and the state of the Nigerian movie industry. Read excerpts from the interview below.

On what influenced his decision to act
My passion for acting. Also, I lived in the same vicinity with Papa Hubert Ogunde on the Island and had some of his children as friends. I used to admire how people shouted his name whenever he drove round the street and I prayed to be like him. So, when the opportunity came, even as a child, I grabbed it with both hands.

On what he considers before accepting a script
I have gotten to a stage where I cannot afford to be part of a bad production. The first thing I consider is the quality of the script. I also put who the producer is into consideration. A bad producer will only deliver a bad production because he will not be able to get able hands to work with. The director and the caliber of actors and actresses invited to narrate the story are also other factors to consider.

On the opinion that Nollywood should have only one professional body
I think so. Associations are being regulated by a guild in every nation of the world. And their guilds are under a council which serves as the executive. Just like some people believe that the National Film and Video Censors Board are regulating the film industry in Nigeria, this is not true because that is outside their jurisdiction.

The film industry needs a body managed by the film-makers and not a parastatal owned by the government. The National Film and Video Censors Board classify our films but they do not serve as a regulatory body. We need our own council and an umbrella body which will soon emerge.