The dream of every parent is for their children to follow in
their foot steps but not for popular actress, Laide Bakare. For reasons
best known to her, Laide has insisted that her daughter would rather not
become an actress like her. In as much as she wants her to become
famous, it would be in another profession not acting.
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The Oyo State-born actress and University of Ibadan graduate of
Theatre Arts opened up to The Entertainer on her rise to stardom, her
s*x life and relationship with pop singer, 9ice. Excerpts:
What have you being doing lately?
I
just made a multi-million naira movie. The movie is entitled, Jejere
and it features 9ice who played a major role including talented actors
like Emeka Ike, Akin Lewis, and Fathia Balogun among others. It has
really taken a lot of my energy because it is not just about me but
basically about being a business woman and entrepreneur, someone that
invested so much in a production company called, Simline Records. The
company is borne out of my love for music and the arts. My interest is
solely to help identify, grow and support talented youths.
What’s the main focus of your movie, Jejere?
Simline
is putting together a world-class event to officially unveil and
present these projects. The event tagged: “The Laide Bakare Experience”
will witness the premiere of the movie, “Jerere” and official
presentation of my record label and its artistes. The event would be
rounded off with a concert that will feature performances by King Wasiu
Ayinnde, T-code and 9ice among others. It will take place at Orchid
Hotel, Lekki, Lagos on Sunday January 13, 2013. When you make a good
movie and interpret it, it doesn’t matter the language. I went extra
length to make a good quality movie, which talks about bad leadership,
discrimination against women, love and culture. The movie will be in
major cinemas from this month.
At what time did you decide to be a filmmaker?
It
has always been my passion to be a filmmaker. My coming into the movie
industry actually started from the idea of me being a filmmaker and a
business woman. Though, I have been carried away with acting, I knew
that deep inside me I will make good movies one day. So, when the time
came, I gave it full attention. That’s exactly what I am doing now
though, I produced my first movie in my second year at the university.
So far I have done about 12 movies. I am never in a hurry to make
movies. I do movies that will impact society positively.
How did you venture into movie industry?
I
never planned to go into acting. At a point I thought about going into
politics, but I don’t like Nigerian politics. My father owns a hotel and
movie people used to come and shoot in the hotel. So, anytime they
needed help, I was the one providing it for them. Among my father`s
children, I was the only one that was assisting them. Then, I was a
teenager, about 16 years old and was about to go to University of Ibadan
to study Theatre Arts, most of them encouraged me to start acting while
I was still in school.
How did your parents feel when you wanted to join tbe movie industry, did they object?
My
parents never objected to my acting career. In fact, they supported my
very first production. I remember my mum cooked for me on location. At
the time, I was in school and my father had bought a camera for me to
produce my movie. My dad has been supporting the movie industry for a
long time. I will say from day one, my dad and mum had been there for
me. They stood by me even when some actors were trying to look down on
me because they thought that making movie is only for old people, but my
parents encouraged me. Today, a lot of actresses have learnt from me to
take bold steps.
Tell us about your background?
My
dad is from Ibadan, Oyo State and my mum is from Oshogbo in Osun State.
I grew up here in Lagos and my father owns a hotel and construction
company. I graduated from University of Ibadan.
What was your growing up like?
My
growing up was very interesting because we have one boy and some
females. We have always been popular in our area because our street is
named after my father, that is Bakare Street. So, people in the
community used to call us Bakare girls. While growing up within the
neighborhood, I have always been popular but sometimes I would just
pretend I didn’t know.
What is your relationship with 9ice
9ice
acted a major role in the movie, Jejere. I am surprised because I don’t
know what prompted the story that 9ice and I are dating. Some people
like to create something out of nothing. There is nothing of such
between us. We are just friends. I am too big for that kind of rumour.
Do you have any plan to produce English movies ?
I
can make English movies. I am a movie maker, it doesn’t matter what
genre of movie. I have an English movie that I am working on, and very
soon we would produce it.
What is the craziest thing a fan has done to you?
They
said I am a short woman. But I am not short. As a matter of fact, my
stature doesn’t stop me from being who I am. But it can be embarrassing
sometimes.
How long have you been married?
Yes,
I am married for so long. I don’t like discussing my family, that’s my
private life. I have one kid. But I don’t want to talk about that.
How do you strike balance between your job and the home front?
It
is God. I won`t talk about my family because that’s what I so much
cherish. I so much treasure my daughter and my husband. I treasure them a
lot. I avoid anything that will affect them. I don’t want to have
problem with my family. I don’t want to put them in the public eye. I
would rather keep it to myself.
Most men would like to date a pretty lady like you. How do you handle stubborn male admirers?
Most
of them know that I am married. Even if they are crazy about me, they
should know that I am married. Actually, there is nothing to talk about
them. I don’t like talking about man or woman affairs. It’s one thing I
don’t really like to talk about.
What challenges do you encounter as an actress?
The
only time I had challenges was when I was in the university. It was not
easy struggling with education and work. Struggling with my education
and the birth of my baby was also a challenge. At a time, I needed to
leave school to go and have my baby so, all those things were
challenging. I had to travel out of the country to meet my husband and
then come back. I was always going out and coming in.
How do you cope since your husband is based abroad?
We
always keep in touch. We travel to meet him over there and he also
comes home to be with us. That’s how we have been coping. We are here
today, we are in America tomorrow. But it has been fun. We create time
for work, either his work or my own work. It might not work for other
families but it works for us.
Can you fight over love?
I
believe in love but not to the extent of fighting or committing suicide
or even killing someone over it because life must go on. I don’t
believe that love is blind. I believe in love but you have to open your
eyes widely to see it.
Is there any part of your body you cannot expose no matter the offer?
Yes,
of course, my private part. I have to keep it, I can`t expose it. But I
can expose my back and legs. I can expose the whole of my back. That’s
all.
Your husband wouldn’t feel bad about exposing any part of your body?
No, he can`t feel bad. He loves what I am doing as an actress. He encourages me and he wants me to do more.
How did you feel about your first kiss on screen?
I cannot remember it because it was not memorable. It was a long time and it was not passionate.
When did you start having s*x?
I
didn’t start having s*x at early age. It took me a very long time even
though it was something I had always been looking forward to. I looked
up to it almost three years before I eventually had s*x. It wasn’t a
nice experience with my first boyfriend. We dated for six years and we
had s*x after four years of our relationship. I was 18 when I met my
first boyfriend. I was still a virgin then, even while in the movie
industry for close to three years. I think the first time I had s*x I
was about 21 years old. It was what I had been looking forward to, but
it wasn`t a nice experience.
What makes a good actress?
It’s the ability to interprete all the roles given, any role at all.
Would you allow your daughter to go into movies?
No.
I don’t like it, may be, something else but definitely not the movie
industry. I don’t know why I don’t want to involve my daughter in that
line. It is not easy handling things and all that. I love my daughter to
be popular, but probably in other profession not in the movie industry.
