Award-winning Nollywood actress and producer Funke Akindele has attributed her success in the film industry to years of hard work, dedication and personal sacrifice.
The filmmaker said her commitment to her career often came at the expense of her personal care and social life.
Akindele disclosed this during an interview with BellaNaija while responding to a question about the factors behind the continued success of her films.
According to her, every production requires extensive research, writing and a willingness to devote significant time to the work.
“It is a lot of work. When I say a lot of work, a lot of giving your all into work,” she said.
Akindele recalled recently questioning why it had taken her so long to devote more attention to herself despite compliments about her appearance.
“I was looking back, I was telling myself that, ‘People are saying you look beautiful. You’re loving yourself in the mirror. Why did it take you so long to care about yourself?’” she said.
Why Akindele abandoned her social life
The producer said she became so focused on work that she rarely attended parties, visited people or styled her hair except for important red-carpet appearances.
“I abandoned myself for work. I don’t even make my hair, except I am going on the red carpet for something very important,” she said.
“I don’t attend parties. I don’t visit people. I put everything into work. Research, writing, work.”
Akindele added that she sacrificed much of her time to her career but had recently begun paying more attention to skincare, relaxation and her appearance.
“I am neck-deep in work. I sacrificed my time. It is just now that I am relaxed, doing skincare routine, looking beautiful and smelling nice,” she said.
The actress linked those sacrifices to her professional achievements, including the reported ₦2.7 billion gross recorded by her film, Behind The Scene.
“For my last movie, ‘Behind The Scene,’ to gross ₦2.7 billion, it was a lot of sacrifices,” Akindele stated.
