Speaking on the Behind The Fame Podcast on YouTube, Opebe explained that certain scenes meant to depict fights often turned into genuine physical confrontations.
“Those sufferings were beyond acting; they were real beatings. That’s what they call acting — you have to do it well and real for people to know it truly happened. Baba Suwe doesn’t mind. Anyone that knows him well knows he will beat you directly; ask the director,” he said, speaking in Yoruba and later translated into English.
Opebe recalled a particularly intense experience on the set of the Yoruba movie Eku Meji, where a scripted fight with veteran actor Yinka Quadri escalated into an actual physical altercation.
“In that movie Eku Meji, I had a role with Yinka where he was supposed to beat me. But we had a misunderstanding before then, and when the scene started, he beat me seriously. I shouted ‘Cut! This isn’t a movie anymore!’ It wasn’t acting at all,” Opebe recounted.
He explained that the incident stemmed from a personal disagreement, as he had previously sided with Baba Suwe in a dispute involving the veteran actors.
“He laughed and said, ‘In your life, you won’t interfere in people’s fights again.’ The person I supported — Baba Suwe — was laughing at me. That day, I said to myself, ‘If people fight, it’s none of my business again.’ Since then, I know my boundaries,” he added.
Opebe’s candid reflections highlight the intense and sometimes unforgiving environment of the early Yoruba film industry, offering a rare glimpse into the challenges actors faced behind the camera.