In a candid reflection on his career journey, Nollywood actor Deyemi Okanlawon has disclosed that he stepped away from acting in 2019, citing poor pay, creative dissatisfaction, and a growing sense of disillusionment with the quality of work in the industry.
The actor made the revelation during a recent episode of the CreativiTea podcast, which began gaining traction online after clips of his comments circulated widely on Wednesday.
According to him, the decision was not impulsive but came after a period of frustration with both the financial and artistic realities of filmmaking at the time. He explained that returning to acting no longer felt meaningful under the conditions he was experiencing.
“So, I quit acting in 2019. I quit because the pay was nonsense, the work was nonsense. And I just felt like I didn’t leave 9-to-5 work to come and do mediocre work,” he said.
Okanlawon, who had previously left a corporate career to pursue acting full-time, said the reality he encountered in Nollywood did not align with the passion that initially drove his transition into the industry.
He emphasized that the lack of satisfaction made it increasingly difficult to stay motivated or committed to the craft, especially when both compensation and production standards fell short of his expectations.
“It was difficult to wake up in the morning and go to work, and what is the point of being passionate about something and then not being fulfilled by it? So I quit and then went back to 9-to-5 work,” he said.
His comments have since sparked renewed conversations about remuneration, working conditions, and creative standards within Nollywood, where industry professionals have long debated the balance between passion-driven work and financial sustainability.