Nollywood actress and filmmaker Funke Akindele has revealed how she spent the first N1M she made from acting in 1999. She recently revealed that landing her breakout role as Bisi in the popular TV series “I Need to Know” made her a millionaire.
In a video posted on her Instagram page, Funke shared that she showed the money to her mother as soon as she received it.
According to Akindele, her mother immediately advised her to pay her tithe, which she did, before heading to Yaba to overhaul her wardrobe.
Funke stated that she needed the shopping spree because she was lacking good clothes and shoes at the time.
“What did I do with one million naira? First, I showed it to my mom. Of course, she knows about it, and then mommy advised and said I have to pay my tithe first.
I paid my tithe, then I entered Yaba because I didn’t have shoes. I didn’t have maybe two or three I had there. I didn’t have good clothes.
I changed my wardrobe, shoes, bags, everything. The girl that had no shoes yesterday has today,” she said.
She further noted that her Nollywood career started in 1996 with minor “waka-pass” appearances before she landed her major role on “I Need To Know.”
Funke concluded by saying that even though overacting almost made her lose her role on the TV series, the producer trusted her in the end.
“I made that around 1999. I started my career from like 1996, playing waka pass roles, 1997 going for auditions, getting a lot of nos.
Then I got one big yes with ‘I need to know’ and that is how I got my first N1 million.
I almost lost the role ‘Bisi’ in ‘I need to know’. I shot the pilot of I need to know first and I acted so well, and I was waiting for this callback. The callback didn’t come on time. I’m like, ah, okay.
Then he just called me into the office. I’m like, okay, you’re a fantastic actress, you’re doing so well, but you’re overacting. They told me to go home and read my script, understand the character very well.
I was so worried. I said How am I going to do it now? Then I got home, and I was so moody, and my younger sister was like sister, what’s wrong?
I said, ‘I need to know’. They said I’m not talking like a teenager.
She said ah because I was not a teenager when I was filming ‘I need to know’. She said Ah, let me see the script and she held the script. She started reading.
So I heard mama speak like a teenager, and immediately, you know, I took in the character and I started speaking like mama and that and that was how I got the role.
So that was how I made my first one million naira. We were paid for an episode, but I will not tell you how much, but all together, ah, I was shocked. I was like me that always jump for bike,” she added.
