Nollywood actor and filmmaker, Femi Adebayo, has revealed that better financial prospects and his passion for entertainment influenced his decision to abandon legal practice for acting in 2005.
Adebayo, who was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2003, said he practised litigation for about two years before eventually leaving the legal profession to concentrate on acting and film production.
The actor disclosed this during an interview on the Afrobeats podcast, published on Saturday, where he reflected on his career journey, his family’s entertainment background and how he transitioned from law to the movie industry.
According to him, acting initially started as a childhood hobby inspired by his father, veteran actor Adebayo Salami, popularly known as Oga Bello, but gradually developed into a full-time career.
“It was actually hobby turned profession for me. Acting was a hobby because you want to do what daddy does when you are young.
“But I realised that it was paying more and I felt more passionate about it. I feel happy when I do that more than the law that I went to school to study,” he said.
Recalling his brief experience in legal practice, Adebayo said he appeared in court and handled litigation cases before deciding to leave the profession in 2005.
“I was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2003. I did litigation practice, stood before the court of law and did that for about two years. Something kept dragging me to the acting world, so I gave up in 2005, dropped the wig and gown and went fully into acting and producing,” he said.
The actor also spoke about his father’s reaction to his decision to study law, explaining that Oga Bello initially welcomed the choice because becoming a lawyer had been his own unfulfilled ambition.
He said his father could not pursue legal education because his family lacked the financial resources to support his studies.
“When I said I wanted to study law, he was happy because that was his dream. Eventually, when I pulled out from law, it was in between being happy that somebody was taking after him in the acting world and at the same time dropping the wig and gown that he had wanted to hold,” he said.
Adebayo added that his father eventually became grateful that he chose acting, a career through which he has established himself in different areas of filmmaking, including acting, producing, writing and directing.
