Nollywood icon Ireti Doyle opened up about her early struggles in expressing her desire for an acting career. On the Terms and Conditions by pulse podcast, the seasoned actress admitted it was tough to voice her aspirations initially.
Doyle felt embarrassed when talking about her passion for acting. She remembered a time when a close friend noticed her emotional struggle and encouraged her to talk. At first, she hesitated but eventually admitted she wanted to be a “star,” not immediately expressing her true desire to become an actress.
In her exact words:
“I was embarrassed, I couldn’t say it out loud for a long time. I don’t even know why now that I’m thinking about it, but I was just embarrassed to say it. And I remember, you know, when something is gnawing at your very insides, all I knew was I just wanted to act” Doyle confessed.
“So I remember the first time I would alter the words to a friend of mine. He said, ‘You have been moody. You’ve been crying. What is it?’ You know, there’s some people who see you and have more experience with you. So he was like ‘What do you want? There’s something you want.’ And I was too embarrassed to say it out loud. I didn’t say I wanted to act, I said something else. I said I wanted to be a star. That was the first thing that came out of my mouth and thankfully he didn’t laugh at me.
Her friend’s understanding response and gentle encouragement allowed Doyle to openly acknowledge her true aspirations. “Now we know,” he assured her, lending support to her heartfelt admission.
Imagine if she hadn’t communicated how she felt, we would have missed out on her spectacular acts in movies like The Wedding Party, Flawsome, Merrymen, and a lot more.
