The actors Temidayo Akinboro and Martha Ehinome have been honing their craft for years. However, their talents would only come to the fore last year, bringing new attention to their earlier performances. It prompts the question: What catapults an actor into the spotlight?
One might be tempted to chalk it up to the brilliance of an actor’s performance. Yet, although Akinboro and Ehinome had previously demonstrated their acting chops, wider acclaim eluded them. Perhaps actors announce their presence in the mainstream circuit by landing a role in a major production. But then many up-and-coming actors feature in blockbusters but fail to pull off a memorable performance. More likely, it is a convergence of both factors: an actor starring in a major production while also showcasing their best work. When the right performer meets the right project, audiences take notice in a lasting way.
So was the case for Akinboro and Ehinome, both of whom starred in Jay Franklyn Jituboh’s 2023 Netflix series, Madam Koi Koi, and so was the case with six other emerging Nigerian actors, all of whom this article considers. They gave attention-grabbing performances in 2023, and they are some of the young Nigerian actors to look out for this year.
1. Martha Ehinome
Martha Ehinome catapulted to stardom after headlining Origin: Madam Koikoi, a two-part series that centers on the titular Madam Koi Koi, a vengeful spirit from a popular Nigerian urban legend. Jay Franklyn Jituboh’s directorial debut was the most streamed show on Netflix, in Nigeria, in the first three consecutive weeks after its release. Ehinome played Amanda, a schoolgirl whose travails are both physical and metaphysical: she has to evade a trio of rapists, and, somehow, her fate is intertwined with the vengeful creature’s.
Some of Ehinome’s previous films include Africa Magic’s Riona (2020), and Dear Bayo (2020), which was nominated for two Best of Nollywood (BON) awards. She also starred in Babatunde Apalowo’s All the Colors of the World are Between Black and White, in which she plays a hapless lover: her homosexual crush does not return her affections.
Ehinome is also in Africa Magic specials like Unscripted (2023) and Manfriend, the second of which premiered in January. She plays a role in Showmax’s landmark telenovela Wura (2023). Having competently played different characters – hapless lover, brilliant but naïve schoolgirl, to name a few – Ehinome’s versatility can hardly be questioned. Her performances last year have created an appetite among many cinephiles for more of her works.
2. Maleek Sanni and Fawaz Aina
Both Maleek Sanni and Fawaz Aina were first known for comic videos that they created as a collective, Ikorodu Bois, a youngish cast also comprising Sanni’s two siblings. (Aina is Sanni’s cousin.) Using improvised props for comic effect, the group recreates popular music videos and film trailers. Such is the ingenuity and popularity of these videos that they have earned the admiration of Hollywood juggernauts like Chris Hemsworth. Amid pandemic-blighted 2020, they recreated the trailer of Extraction, impressing the Russo brothers – the duo co-produced the film with Hemsworth – who then invited the group for its world premiere in the United States.
Both Sanni and Fawaz Aina enjoyed cameo appearances in Kunle Afolayan’s 2022 folklore film, Anikulapo. But their big break came last year: Sanni landed a role in Jadesola Osiberu’s Gangs of Lagos, Prime Video’s first African original movie. He plays a street urchin, who grows to be one of Lagos’s deadliest gangsters – Tobi Bakre plays his older version – and his performance saw him named Best Young/Promising Actor at the 2023 AMAA Awards. On the other hand, Aina landed a lead in Ijogbon, Kunle Afolayan’s coming-of-age, adventure film. What more is to come from Sanni and Aina? We’ll find out soon.
3. Darasimi Nadi
Darasimi Nadi has impressively held her own alongside Nollywood stars since entering their ranks as a child actor at age 9. Early roles saw her acting alongside the likes of Beverly Naya, Gideon Okeke, Jide Ekenne, and Venita Akpofure.
In 2023, she was nominated for the Best Young/Promising Actor award (AMAA) for her soulful performance in Netflix’s Obara’m. In Obara’m, she plays the daughter of an up-and-coming musician played by Nancy Isime. She also shone in Bennett Nwokike’s directorial debut, Insecure (2023), starring Beverly Naya and Efa Iwara. With stirring performances in The Pretty Ones Are the Loneliest (2021), The Smokescreen (2021), and the upcoming Unknown Soja under her belt, Nadi, despite her young age, possesses a screen presence that makes her one of the promising acts to look out for.
4. Chuks Joseph
At 27, rising star Chukwuemeka Joseph demonstrates an impressive acting range. Transitioning from modeling to acting in 2020, Joseph received training at the Royal Arts Academy, Ebonylife Creative Academy, and the African International Film Festival acting masterclass.
He has played stand-out roles, such as in Linda Ikeji’s directorial debut, Dark October (2023), for which he won Best Actor in a Film/TV Series at NXT Honors. He also featured in Africa Magic’s Masquerades of Aniedo (2023) and in the web series Riona. Recently, he played Lashe, a fiendish high school student in The Origin: Madam Koi-koi. With performances in Afamefuna (2023), Leaked (2022) and Flatmates, Joseph’s acting trajectory keeps soaring.
5. David Ezekiel
David Ezekiel has starred in several Nollywood movies, such as Maia (2022), Girl Meets Boy (2023), Oghalé (2023). But he set himself apart recently when he played Abbey, the protagonist in Moses Inwang’s Blood Vessel (2023), a Netflix original. Abbey, his pregnant girlfriend, and some strangers travel secretly as fugitives aboard a ship. When the ship’s maniacal owner discovers them and believes them to be spies, they are, quite literally, caught between the barrel of a gun and a deep blue sea. As Abbey, Ezekiel gives a convincing performance of a man who would stop at nothing to avenge the murder of his beloved. He is certainly one of the emerging actors to look out for this year.
6. Kayode Ojuolape Jnr
Kayode Ojuolape stood out in Kunle Afolayan’s Ijogbon. As head of the four friends driving the film’s narrative, Ojuolape’s charisma leaps off the screen. Though boasting credits since his 2015 debut in African Magic’s Andrew Files, Ijogbon proved a star-making turn for Ojuolape.
Additionally, he has demonstrated versatility across projects like Leaked (2022), Africa Magic’s Slum King (2023), Uche Jombo’s Onyegwu (2023), and James Amuta’s Black Harvest (2023). Kayode Ojuolape Jnr rings out as one to watch out for.
7. Temidayo Akinboro
In 2018, Temidayo Akinboro bagged the Best Promising Actor Award at the BONAwards for his role as Chidi, a gay high school student in We Don’t Live Here Anymore. While in his finals at the University of Lagos, Akinboro held his own acting opposite Nollywood actors like Femi Adegbite and Tina Mba in Color Me (2021), an inspiring life story. He also played Kayode, an errant student in the ghost story, The Origin: Madam Koikoi.
With compelling performances in Coming From Insanity (2019), Heart and Soul (2020), and Masquerades of Aniedo (2023) under his belt, the young actor is one to watch out for this year.
