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Veteran Nollywood ac­tress, Amb. Dr. Moji Oye­tayo, popularly known as Mama Ajasco, has shared her inspiring journey of breaking barriers in the movie industry despite the challenges of being a plus-size actor.

The actress was recent­ly celebrated in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was honoured with the Lifetime Impact in Cinematic Art and Humanitarian Excel­lence Award by the D’CEM Awards USA Team.

Speaking recently af­ter receiving the award in an interview, Oyetayo ex­pressed gratitude for the recognition, saying:

“I feel a sense of eupho­ria and I am immensely grateful to be celebrated while I can still smell the roses. My awards tell me I am doing well and people are watching. They also re­mind me that much is ex­pected of me, and that has fueled my desire to strive harder.”

Known for her versatil­ity on screen, Oyetayo re­vealed that her body size initially posed challenges for her career, but she re­fused to let it stop her.

“Being a plus-size actor can be challenging, but I beat the odds. I have a face that can easily adapt to any character and that helped me a lot,” she said.

Looking back on her early years, the actress disclosed that she initially wanted to become a news­caster but fate led her into Nollywood.

“I actually fancied be­ing a newscaster during my youthful years, but I guess life had other plans. At the time I pursued act­ing, I was already working behind the scenes as an ar­tiste manager for The Next Movie Star reality show. Later, I contested in the 12 Ambassadors of Nollywood Reality Show and emerged winner, which automatical­ly launched me into the in­dustry,” she explained.

Oyetayo, who is also the Chairman Emeritus of the Actors Guild of Ni­geria (AGN), is a multiple award-winning actress with recognitions includ­ing the Lifetime Achieve­ment Award from Achiev­ers Award International and the Iconic Service to the Guild Award at the AGN Film Festival in California, among others.

Sharing her thoughts on the Nigerian film industry, the actress said Nollywood is making remarkable prog­ress but needs more invest­ment to maximise global opportunities.

“We are actually in a good place in the industry and creating internation­al collaborations. We just need more funding to ex­plore the new era of digi­tization on a global scale,” she said.

She also advised aspiring actors to remain focused and ignore distractions:

“There has been a lot of positive change. With so­cial media, YouTube, and streaming platforms, the gap between actors and au­diences has been bridged. Today, any actor can rise to fame without the hurdles we faced before. The future of cinematic art is unlimit­ed and I am positively look­ing forward to it.”

Beyond acting, Oyetayo is passionate about hu­manitarian work, especial­ly causes that support the girl child and widows. She revealed that she is current­ly producing her own films and sees herself transition­ing more into production than acting in the coming years.

“I want to be remem­bered as someone who left a positive impact beyond the screen, who touched many young lives, gave back to society, and showed empa­thy. To whom much is given, much is expected. We are blessed to be a blessing to others,” she said.