Wale Ojo, a British Nigerian actor, director, and producer, won the Best Lead Actor award at the 10th Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) 2024.
His compelling performance in the drama ‘Breath of Life’ earned him this prestigious award ahead of other actors like Stan Eze, Richard Mofe Damijo, and Gabriel Afolayan.
Born 9th September 1968 in London, he started as a child actor when he was eight years old working mainly on drama series and television soaps with Africa’s first television station, WNTV IBADAN.
He also worked with Akin Lewis, who played a barber on the NTA Ibadan 1980s television series Why Worry.
At age 12, he moved with his family to England. He attended the university of Hull where he studied Drama.
Ojo became a professional actor in the United Kingdom in 1986 where he played a very young Othello in London’s East End.
Ojo has been a prominent figure in the world of cinema, with significant contributions to Nollywood, and Hollywood.
Ojo credits his career on influences from his mother, who was an actress and supportive of his career, also Chief Wale Ogunyemi, Tunji Oyelana, Wole Soyinka, and Zulu Sofola.
Ojo’s talent and dedication to his craft have seen him rise to prominence in the film industry. He first gained recognition in 1995 for his role in The Hard Case. His performance in Phone Swap, where he played a leading role, won him the award for Best Actor at the 2012 Nigeria Entertainment Awards.
His filmography is as diverse as it is impressive, with notable works including Meet the Adebanjos, Johnny English Reborn, The Guard, Half of a Yellow Sun, and Foundation. Each role he takes on is a testament to his versatility and commitment to bringing characters to life.
Beyond his acting career, Ojo has also made strides in improving the quality of Nigerian films. He founded New Nigeria Cinema, an initiative aimed at raising the bar for Nigerian films. His vision is to see Nigerian films compete favorably on the global stage, and is actively working towards making this a reality.
Ojo is also a musician. It is just that the music career has not really flowered like his acting side. He has an Afrobeats band called ‘Wale Ojo and the Milagrous’, and they have played in several concerts in London, Brazil and America. He has worked with several musicians . His music is influenced by the afrobeat icon, Fela Kuti, but he also incorporate styles by the likes of Fireboy, Rema and Asake.
Ojo described the journey of acting as a fantastic one, his passion and hobby. He said he find it incredible that God has blessed him with acting, because it started as a joke when he was a child. However, something kept pushing him that he should keep pushing and make a career out of it.
Ojo has acted in many countries, including South Africa, Brazil, Ireland, Malta, United States of America and Nigeria. Currently, he wants to do more work in Cuba and Nigeria. He is also moving into writing and directing his own projects.
He will play the nobel laureate and writer Wole Soyinka in a film adaptation of one of Soyinka’s famous books The Man Died which will be released in July.
In many ways, Wale Ojo’s successful career has been a delight and inspiration, enriching the movie world.
