Nollywood and Instagram Influencers: A Bad Act Doing More Harm than Good

Is being an influencer on Instagram a gateway to the movie industry in Nigeria? In recent movie productions, we see Instagram influencers starring in notable roles in movies. Do we really enjoy this trend?

It is almost believable that IG Influencers have a better chance at getting roles in movies based on their showbiz than actual upcoming actors and thespians.

One may say this is as a result of their already established presence in the entertainment world giving them a platform that upcoming actors are not privileged to have. The same thing can be said for ex-housemates of the Big Brother House. These persons get the opportunity to star in movies even though some of them may have never had acting careers or nurtured the thought until the platform created by their participation in the reality show.

It’s great to have such opportunities but does it always fit the shoes? Acting is a skill and not everyone can learn that skill and excel at it. So, should someone with little or no experience in acting get a better opportunity at acting than an actual trained actor?

Show business is hard and it even becomes harder when there are persons who have made their presence in showbiz through social media and social reality shows and somehow end up sweeping up all the opportunities. No bad belle o, but square pegs should not be put in round holes.

The film industry should give priority to the younger generation of trained thespians, passionate actors and actual talented persons to take up roles and be introduced into the industry.

As much as it’s enjoyable to see popular face, it is even better to see raw and pure talent on the screens. We need to see better casting in our movies.