Nollywood actress Bimbo Thomas has explained that she made a conscious decision to move away from the “thug” roles that initially defined her career so as not to be typecast.
In a recent conversation with Old Secrets, posted on YouTube, the actress shared that following her breakthrough in movies such as Omo Ghetto and Eruku Nla, she was flooded with offers to play similar roles.
She explained that in order to avoid being typecast, she deliberately turned down such roles and chose to concentrate on demonstrating her versatility as an actress.
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“I have played several roles including housewife, market woman, and mother. I will take on any role as an actor, but I stopped accepting thug roles for a while because I felt they wanted to box me in, to put me in a corner,” she said.
“After acting in Omo Ghetto and Eruku Nla where I played thug roles, more of such offers started coming in. To avoid being stereotyped, I decided to slow down on those roles and allow people to see me in other characters.
“As an actor who studied creative arts, I’m versatile and can switch roles easily from English to Yoruba, although I’m not so good with Pidgin English.
“That was the reason I paused for a bit, but right now, I can take on any role.”
After earning a degree in Creative Arts from the University of Lagos, Thomas kicked off her acting journey as an apprentice with the Odun Theatre Group.
She has since featured in numerous productions, among them Omo Ghetto, its sequel Omo Ghetto: The Saga, Eruku Nla, and Omo Poly.
Watch her speak below…
