Bukky Wright is one of the most celebrated screen queens out of Nollywood. Very popular for her role as ‘Omotara Johnson’, she left the movie scene in 2016 for other interests and returned this year to take back her throne. She reveals in this interview her reasons for the hiatus and why she is back to serenade her fans once again.
Your last movie that I remember was in 2016, and now you are back in 2024. How does it feel to be back in Nollywood?
It feels really good and I’m so happy about the warm welcome from everybody. I’m happy to be back. Did I miss the industry? Yes, I did.
That break was a bit long, and as somebody who embodies every role that you’re given in any movie, many wonder why you took that long. Also, now that you’re back, what can your fans expect?
I just felt like doing something else for myself. I decided to go back to school and, you know, put my hands into something else. I’m happy I did. Now, I can boast that I’m a cyber security analyst. I’m certified in information security in the US. It felt good to at least try something out and go out of my comfort zone. I’ve always been somebody who would always go out of her comfort zone. I don’t believe in impossibilities.
At the time that I left, I had to leave because my children needed me more. I’m a mother and I would always say that I live for my children. My children needed me and I had to be at their beck call. You know there is always a time in the life of a mother that your children need you the most. And when they need you the most, you have to show up for them. That was what I did, and I did not want to waste that time doing nothing, career-wise. So, I challenged myself. I challenged my children as well. Sometimes they’re like, ‘Mommy, do you want to be a professor or what?’
Having gone back to school, trying a different career path and becoming a professional in another field, do you think those who say actors should also find something else apart from the normal hustle, are right?
Yes, I would say absolutely that you need to do that. And I’ve always done that. Even when I was in Nigeria, I would go into business now and then. I had my spa and a clothing line, I’ve always dipped my hand into something on the side. So I believe you should. Even in America, the actors have side hustles. So, that’s my side hustle for now.
It seems like you have gone out and conquered the world. Why are you back? Is it that you want more fulfillment in terms of producing and acting or is it that there’s just so much money here to be made now that you just want to cash in?
I feel there’s still something in me to give to the entertainment industry in Nigeria. It actually hits to the core of my fans anytime I post anything on Instagram, they’ll be like, ‘You need to come back’. My sons also kept encouraging me, they said, ‘It’s time you go back again and do something in the movie industry in Nigeria.’ Right now, I’m here for Nora Awolowo. She brought me in for ‘Red Circle’.
While you were away, which of the young Nollywood actresses did you see a bit of yourself in when you were starting?
I think they’re all trying. They’re all good actors and actresses. I give it to the Nigeria entertainment industry. They are all good, and I am not going to single anybody out.
What new ideas are you bringing to Nollywood?
I’m going to say watch out for ‘Red Circle’, because honestly, even when I was reading the script, I was like, ‘Nora would kill me’. This girl has killed me, because I saw me coming back and in a very dynamic way that I was like, ‘no, this is crazy’. But I’m just going to say watch out for Red Circle. At the same time, you know that I would always deliver. I have never failed my fans in delivering. I am not going to fail them because I am bringing back the ‘Return of Omotara Johnson’.
Are you going to try to give politics a try soon, seeing that a lot of your colleagues have successfully done it now?
I believe in setting paces. I’ve set the pace and let the others follow. Whatever is going to happen in the future, only God knows. I don’t know yet, but I believe in setting a pace.
Generally, when actors star in more indigenous films, we tend to see them in a certain way, we box them in a way and call them Yoruba actors. Was it that drive that pushed you to be more than what people thought you could be?
I would say far from what a lot of people say about the indigenous artistes, I stand to be corrected; we are not Yoruba actors. We are just indigenous actors, and a lot of us went to school. We have a lot of graduates of English, of different schools of thought in the Yoruba genre of the industry. We are not supposed to be called Yoruba actors.
Before I came into the industry, I was a graduate, for crying out loud. Now, I am a master’s degree holder, and I’m going to give myself that accolade. I have so many certifications to my name. If you go on my LinkedIn page, I have well over 10 certifications that you cannot push aside. So, it really hurts, when I hear them say, Yoruba actors. We’re not Yoruba actors. We’re indigenous actors. And a lot of us are well-schooled.
Many people say that the Yoruba movie industry seems to be playing catchup to the English-speaking side of Nollywood. What would you say to that?
I’m not going to agree with that. Yoruba movies have always owned the content because we are dishing out what is happening in our society, and we are educating. I have a lot of people in the US who watch Yoruba movies as an educational tool to train their children. So I cannot say that we are playing catch-up. No, we’re not. We are actually the content owners, we are the writers, and we are the actors. Why do I produce my movies in Yoruba? You can’t speak a language better than the indigenous owners of the language. Even though I have all the degrees, I can’t speak English like an Englishman, or an Englishwoman. I’m still a Yoruba woman. Any day, I’m a proud Yoruba woman.
Years back, you were like, a queen of the tabloids, everybody wanted to put you in the front of magazines. How were you able to cope, especially with not-so-pleasant stories?
As I would tell anybody who cares to listen, never cry over spilled milk. And if you want to win a race, don’t watch oppositions, because the opposition can come from the people around you, or wherever. So have your eyes on the goal.
