Why I won’t do romantic roles for now – Nollywood Actress

They call her the hottest virgin in Nollywood but Adibeli Ify, a budding actress and a student of Open University, isn’t carried away with such appellation as she believes there may not be virgins in Nollywood anymore. She started her acting career at age 16 when she did a few scenes to earn N5000. Now, at 20, Ify looks to have her world cut out

for her as she has featured in close to 20 films, with five of those as a leading character. Meet the Nollywood’s hottest virgin, the ever-smiling girl many have described as a dead ringer to Tonto Dikeh. She cut her teeth in movies like Blood Enemies, Online Babes, Sound of War and others.

The Beginning

Ify Adebeli has a cheery air about her that would get you thinking this is a girl that would find it hard to settle down at anything. But beneath that giggly, carefree, happy-go-lucky girl mien is a character as strong as a granite. She’s finding her feet in the industry but that hasn’t come about without her having to pay the price most of her colleagues paid.

“I joined the industry four years ago when I was 16years old. I played the role of a daughter to Oge Okoye  in a movie titled Sound of War. The experience was awesome because I had featured in one production, ‘Hustlers’ where I did only dancing scenes. In this particular production, I did a lot of talking and gesticulation.

I was  apprehensive working with stars but I got along later with the help of the professionals around me. I was reading my script like I had an exam” she aid “It isn’t so rare to see someone as young as her pursue a career in acting but rather amazing that at such age she could have played lead roles in over five movies. What is the motivation behind this early move? ““It all started when I accompanied a friend to a movie location. At the location, the director needed people for a dance scene. I did the dance scene and was given N5,000. I was so happy and felt I would do more to get a bigger fees. I just concluded my secondary education at that time. Subsequently, the production manager called me and I got a lead role. I was paid N15, 000 and this really motivated me.

Parents’ reaction

Her love for acting couldn’t be hidden for too long from her parents. Her dad didn’t buy into it initially till he saw her on TV: “At first, my dad was against it but later gave in when he saw my first production. My mother was my back-up, she supported me all the way. My dad felt I was too young to go through the stress and exposure because sometimes I left home and wouldn’t be back for a week. You know I am the first child. His comments were always: “You are too young for this”. On my own part, I enjoy what I am doing. I meet and work with many celebrities.

The dark side

Being a budding star who works with the best of Nollywood hasn’t been without its own dark sides. Her face wears a distressing expression as she reveals the challenges of being an upcoming actress.““Being an upcoming actress poses many challenges, like people wanting you to act for free. This means fending for yourself at locations. Some directors believe doing free jobs is like paying your own dues in the industry. Although, I have done many free jobs which gave me recommendations where I got payed. These days, I insist on getting paid for every job I do no matter how small.

Nollywood is like a market

As a result of her experience in the industry, she sees Nollywood as a market place that comprises of the good , the bad and thy ugly. Nollywood is like a market place where you meet different types of people, the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. But I pray to meet and work with only the good ones. When you meet the ugly ones you wish you hadn’t picked acting as a career. One of such instances is going to a particular  location and after shooting, you are not given a place to sleep.

That situation is an ugly one created by the ugly people in Nollywood.  This means sharing a room with a female celebrity. And at such, you have to be nice so you don’t get thrown out in the middle of the night. My ”landlords” so far have been accommodating based on my size and age” she explained.“She reveals that this is one of the plights of many upcoming actresses. “This happens because some of us go to locations through friends. Our friends beg the producers to create scenes for us to feature in and such scenes  are edited out most times.

Affiliation to a caucus

In today’s Nollywood, actors pitch their tents with caucuses in the industry in order to get the necessary training and exposure. Ify doesn’t believe she needs to be part of any caucus to make it in Nollywood““Joining a particular production house will mean restricting me to that caucus. It doesn’t make one a professional.

Hottest “virgin” in town?

Interested in entrenching her name in the minds of her fans, the rising actress was part of a movie called the Hottest Virgins. She took out time to explain the reason for being part of that movie.““The film is about three young girls from poor background that came to Lagos to find greener pastures. Things weren’t rosy for us as expected. We had to work in a bar. Along the line, we met a woman who was into prostitution. She lured us and we became hottest virgins. My character in the movie was quite challenging, I had to become three different persons at a time, play the role of a poor girl at the village, also the role of the older poor girl struggling in Lagos, and then the role of a prostitute. The poor girl character I played portrays my kind of person, I looked pitiful.”

But would she call herself a virgin? “I don’t know if there are still virgins in Nollywood. That’s a private affair but I am not one” she replied.

Embracing romantic roles

Despite her beauty with the right figure that will get the attention of any man, Ify says she isn’t ready to embrace romantic roles. “I will not take such roles for now. I don’t want to be stereotyped to that. I started with school girl roles and that is what I have been doing so far. My dad will be angry and might send me packing. Maybe the whole neighborhood will have to beg on my behalf. I am yet to play a romantic role. I only had a scene showing I had sex and was dressed to go home. The scene ended with a dry kiss. I know I can’t escape it, but I am not ready yet.

Bright Future

While Ify is yet to become a household name, she still foresees a bright future.”I believe being good at what I do is the way to create a bright future for myself. I am not ready to produce any movie yet, I want to be grounded and popular before doing that”