My Wife Is Victim Of My Romantic Side –Femi Branch
June 30th, 2007
Femi Branch, the gifted crossover actor, unknown to many, is a creation of the late dramatist, Ola Rotimi. Little wonder he is as good on stage as he is on television and in the movies, including the Yoruba sector of the industry. The respected theatre don literally took the young man under his wings back at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife.
The years of tutelage, which he received then is what his numerous fans now savour. Branch - not real surname – is today one of the best crossover acts in the country’s acting industry. He acts in movies and stage with the know how of a thoroughbred professional.
Though more popular as a screen face, his acting acumen is however, not limited to television and movies. He writes play as well. Those who knew him at Obafemi Awolowo University said he did not study theatre arts and he confirmed this to us in an earlier interview.
He told us of how his encounter with Professor Ola Rotimi turned him into what he is now: "My first big step in acting was when Professor Ola Rotimi took me under his wings and told me ‘young man I think you have a future in this thing’. He made me into a project along with some other people like Jude Orhora and others. He took interest in us and mentored us and that really gave me the footing, the strength that I have in what I do. Since then it’s been fun," he laughed, with a mien that suggested he was battling with nostalgia.
The graduate of religious studies, who was going to become a pastor but changed course to the calling that has brought him fame has taken his art beyond commercial acting into the domain of television commercials.
His acting savvy has caught the eyes of television commercials producers and he has done two for MTN and Dunlop. And reacting to that, he told us in an exclusive interview, which held on the set of a movie, "I would like to think it takes less acting skills to do commercials, but it is acting all the same because its like you playing a part, trying to be someone that you are not; trying to convince people that okay I use this product, or that I have spent so much time testing the product and I’m recommending it to the audience."
Though the two television commercials brought him some measure of popularity, even if it is a short fall compared to that which he
grossed being on the TV soap Domino as the unromantic Oscar; Femi stated unequivocally that "Stage is my foundation. When it comes to acting stage is my primary vocation – if I may put it that way, because I started with stage and I will be forever committed to stage acting.
"Stage is not financially gratifying as screen but it is something that most of us who are passionate about still take every time out to do and, most of the time when we do we don’t consider the financial side of it.
"We do it because we love doing it and we want to keep it alive. And I’m hoping, before the end of the year, to still be involved with at least two stage productions and to be able to commit more time and resources to stage later in my stage productions, because I write stage plays and produce," stressed the young act whose role in Domino has continued to generate insinuations that he is unromantic.
Really, not many know he writes plays. One such play is "Itakun" and "Po", a two man satirical comedy directed by Najite Dede, which incidentally was the last stage play in which late Jaiye Aboderin starred alongside Keppy Bassey Ekpeyong.
Perhaps, because of his ability to act both on stage and in screen productions, he is one of the busiest people in the industry; makes you wonder if he ever finds time to unwind.
"I love what I do so for me I can say it is not 100 per cent work; I can’t say whether it is 70 per cent work, 30 per cent fun; I love what I do and that helps me to unwind during work. I have a social life within my work, so I don’t really need that much time to unwind. But as to having time to want to hangout, it doesn’t really happen much outside my work; so it’s more during work, when we finish shooting we could go hangout," he said.
Meanwhile, he disagrees with talk that he is unromantic like Oscar the character he plays in Domino. He argued that his real life person is way different from that which he portrays on screen even though there are some areas where the two share some similarities.
"I think Femi is worlds apart from Oscar Lord Williams. When it comes to romance, actually you should ask whoever has been a victim of the romantic side of the real me, my wife – Ibitola - being a good example. I’m more attuned, more sensitive and more romantic; more loving than Oscar Lord Williams though they share some similarities.
"Oscar and Femi share the same dedication to their job, commitment to vision. So, it’s not all negatives about the young man called Oscar, there are some good sides to him though his perceptions are sometimes a little weird," concluded Femi who has been enjoying huge patronage in the past couple of months.
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