I missed a big opportunity, Bunmi Nelson regrets ignoring Funke Akindele
Nigerian actress, Bunmi Nelson, has expressed regret over overlooking opportunities to support fellow actress Funke Akindele when the latter was still building her career.
Nelson made the revelation during an interview with actress Biola Adebayo on the Talk to B podcast, which was shared on Sunday.
Reflecting on her experience, Nelson admitted that she never imagined Akindele would become as successful as she is today.
“If I knew Funke would go far like this, I would have held her tight,” she said.
The actress used her experience to advise people against underestimating or looking down on others, noting that circumstances can change.
“I didn’t see Funke Akindele going far; that’s why in life, don’t underestimate anyone. Don’t look down on anyone except when you’re admiring their shoe lace,” she said.
Nelson recalled that Akindele approached her in 2006 after learning that she had a house that could be used as a filming location.
According to her, she had regularly allowed filmmakers to use her home for productions while she was also involved in a soap opera.
“I used to give people my house to shoot. I just love it. I used to do location then, and I was also in a soap opera. Funke now approached me and said she needed a house. She even brought Mama Fali Werepe to our house then at Magodo that she wanted to shoot,” Nelson recalled.
However, she admitted that she failed to recognise the opportunity at the time and would often ignore Akindele’s calls.
“The mistake I now made was I just felt… she will be calling me then, I will just ignore. I don’t know if it was my village people ooo,” she said.
Nelson said she believed she had missed a major opportunity because the Nigerian film industry was not as crowded as it is today.
“I had every opportunity when Funke was calling me because the industry was not overpopulated like now,” she said.
She added that Akindele had also encouraged people to join the Yoruba movie industry during that period.
“I missed that big opportunity in 2006 and 2007 because she was telling them to join the Yoruba movie industry,” Nelson said.
Looking back, the actress said the experience had taught her the importance of humility.
“If there’s anything I have learned in this life, it is humility. I’m more humble now than anything else because life has taught me the hard way that nothing is constant,” she stated.
Watch the video below:
𝐈 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐀 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐁𝐮𝐧𝐦𝐢 𝐍𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐈𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐞 𝐀𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐞
Credit: IG | biolabayo1
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