“I Was A House boy For Several Years”, Nollywood Veteran, Pa James

Nollywood veteran, Kayode Olasehinde popularly known as Pa James, a name he got from popular comedy series Papa Ajasco was recently interviewed by Punch and he talked about his journey into acting, his growing up years and his marriage.

On why he decided to become a comic actor, he said, “I can play any role given to me, but comedy is what I have been doing all these years. When I began as an actor, my bosses used to advise me to stick to the comedy line of the business and that is why no matter the role I act, there must be a comic relief in it.”

He said this had resulted in people not taking him seriously outside acting over the years. “Oftentimes, people do not take me seriously even when I am not cracking jokes. For example, on occasions when I board public transport and the conductor owes me my balance, when I ask for my money, people would begin to laugh. In reality, I am pained and I want my money, but the bus conductor and the passengers would think I am joking. There was a day that we were shooting at a location and one of the cast members fainted. Immediately it happened, I rushed out and began to shout for help, but when people saw me, they began to laugh,” Olasehinde said.

The actor talked about working as a houseboy while growing up and how he moved from one menial job to another. He revealed, “My journey to stardom was very rough. Before I became an actor, I was a house boy for several years. I went through a lot during that time. There was a time I was employed to look after a sick child at a native doctor’s house…I would feed him and bathe him. One fateful day, I was given my food, ikokore, but the native doctor said that before I ate, I had to empty the pit latrine. Unfortunately, the bucket used for the latrine had no handle and it had holes in it. I was very sad… I became a sales boy at a shop, but I left the place too.“