It is not enough to say I have the passion and the talent. It’s not even enough to say I have been trained. It takes much more than these to be a grounded actor. And people need to stop some of the things they do, especially when at the end of one reality programme, every participant automatically becomes part of Nollywood. Values such as excellence seem not to matter anymore with awards and recognitions being handed out to just anybody. If we would take care of such things and reward excellence instead of mediocrity, then people would come around to say that we have grown. On the average, I really think we have grown

I had to develop a thick skin because being rejected after numerous auditions is difficult. I learned that you can’t get every role, not because there’s something wrong with you but because you are not what casting agents are looking for pertaining the role

I have been told countless of times when auditioning for certain roles that I don't look African or South African enough. Which is absurd because I am both of those things. Also, black British roles have been a myth lol. And I have been told (not in so many words) to accept it because that's just how the industry is

I never wanted to belong to a crowd. I never had a herd mentality... I always knew what I wanted and I made sure I got it. And I always knew that I wanted to be an actress. I exist because I can act. I will not sit here and say, 'Arrey, by chance, offer aa gaya' (I got the offer by chance). No, I made acting happen to me. The first opportunity I got to act, I grabbed it. Nobody had even heard of me till a couple of years ago. But it's by sheer hard work and focus that I am here. Also, I think I chose the right scripts. Like Robert De Niro says, 'Talent is in the choice you make!'.

I know I get this many times, but the fact is I have always tried to prove my versatility from the given choice. Look, people remember an actor from hit films. Since two of my films of Pyaar Ka Punchnama series worked, people think I am good in such roles.

I always tell up-and-coming artistes that if they want to make it in Nollywood, respect is a key component to overall success. You must be passionate about the job and not just be interested in acting just for the money-it will come at its own time. I believe that a successful person shouldn’t be over-ambitious. Fame will come easily once you work hard and learn the ropes as you grow.

I guess there's some sort of unspoken show business rule, [speaks in British accent] 'You do the theater, and then you move into television, and then, of course, that is your steppingstone to film stardom.' I've done it every which way. I've done theater for many, many years and then had some success in films. I would do television sporadically. I thought this was a good time to try it.

The first audition I ever did [in America], the casting director said, "I don't know why you're here. You're never going to work [here]. You don't look right. You don't have the right kind of personality. I don't even know if you can do an American accent. Maybe you can try England." ... It made me more determined.

Don’t get into acting for fame, because there is a lot of rejection and it is not for the faint of heart. Do it for the craft and because you cannot live without acting.

In today’s time, when the content on internet is so powerful, web series will be any actor’s preferred choice. In fact, so many artistes from the Bollywood industry are making their own home production and the participating in them. But I wouldn’t neglect TV either, because these series help an actor grow and evolve. Bollywood is the cream on top and is on everyone’s radar, but it depends on when you get it.

There are a lot of roles and auditions that call for someone my age. The young people are taking over. They are really coming up the acting industry. There are lots of roles out there but you have to have the right people and the right connections to get called for auditions. You sometimes have to be in the right place at the right time. At the same time, you don’t always have to be in “the business” to get a good break. There are outstanding breakthroughs and “unheard of” actors doing great jobs. You don’t need the connections, but it helps.

Well, it wasn’t that I sought out voice acting. I started in the voice world because at puberty I went from a very high voice to drop down to what’s considered “an announcer voice.” And so I said, I’ve got this “announcer voice,” so I’ll go into broadcasting. And so I went to college and majored in radio and TV, and minored in theater. As time went on, I got more interested in the less regimented and more creative world of theater as opposed to broadcasting. I got my degree, but I decided that I wanted to be an actor.

You learn a lot watching that, because so much of what you do in film and television is technical. You could go to acting class until you're blue in the face, but when it really comes down to it, you'd better have that acting training where so much of what you do is actually technical.

The irony, like I said, is that I didn't pursue acting when I was a little kid. But as I got older, in my late teens and early 20s, I really took it seriously. That’s what I wanted to do, what I wanted my profession to be. But when I started pursuing it, there were just not a lot of opportunities for me. It was extremely difficult for an Asian actor at that time. In Hollywood, very, very few child actors make smooth and successful transitions into adult acting. It's very difficult for many, but I think it's a hundred times—a thousand times—more difficult when you are an Asian actor. I found myself at a crossroads at a very early age. Do I want to continue down a path where I just didn't see many opportunities for myself? Or do I want to go down a path, an unknown path, where I really don't know what I want to do? And I struggled for a long, long time. And at the same time, I was just hoping that phone would ring with an amazing offer to be in a movie like Indiana Jones or The Goonies, or a great role for an Asian actor, and it never came. I was so dispirited and disheartened.