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Star Actor, Mr. MACARONI
There are not too many Nigerians right now who do not know the name Mr. Macaroni. You cannot be an avid fan of Nigerian movies or a lover of comedy skits and not know this hugely talented young man. And if you happen to be a very serious personality who pays no attention to entertainment but political matters alone, then you must know him as one of the leading voices of the youths who rose up a couple of years ago against the rising spate of judicial killings by the now defunct SARS Police. He was at the forefront of the Endsars saga that brought the entire nation to a stand still and opened our minds and consciousness to the injustices perpetrated by not just our law enforcement agents but also the government.
His real name is Debo Adedayo but he is more popularly known as Mr. Macaroni. Some also prefer to call him, ‘Daddy Wa’, his name in his hilarious comedy skit. There is no doubt that Mr. Macaroni is a fantastic actor, and he has proven this time and time again each time he is given seemingly challenging movie roles to deliver. And those who know this hugely adored actor cum activist very closely will gladly tell you he has been extremely busy in the last few months, moving from one location to the other. He is presently, without a doubt, one of the most sought after thespians in the land as we speak. For several months running, Mr. Macaroni has been smiling to the bank, featuring in block buster movies back to back. Sometimes, he never steps foot in his home for many weeks as he is away on location for weeks running..
But City People investigations revealed that Mr. Macaroni has been getting these juicy movie roles, not just because he’s a fantastic actor, but because he has been adjudged by many as a damn good professional. He takes his craft very seriously. He does not take his modest achievements in the industry for granted. Mr. Macaroni goes on set and works hard to deliver his roles like he’s never tasted success before as is evident in his role in the monster hit movie, Jagun Jagun, which has earned him tons of accolades. Every time he gets on set, he shows hunger. He shows commitment. That’s probably what stands this talented young man out from his contemporaries. It is also one of the reasons why many producers often demand his services and seek to have him involved in their movie projects. His impeccable conduct on and off set has endeared him to many, especially young people who see him as a role model who represents all of their aspirations and offers them that self belief that they can be whatever they choose to be in life. For a young man his age who’s enjoying some measure of success, Debo Adedayo is a rarity. He has remained his humble self, never letting all of the accolades coming his way get into his head. He has stayed grounded. Even his hunger for perfection, for success, and commitment to stay relevant in conversations within Nollywood has not waned one bit, despite having been involved in acting for several years running. Many do not know Mr. Macaroni started out long time ago, appearing in television dramas like Super Story, Face To Face, etc long before he found his breakthrough
Today, Mr. Macaroni has grown to become a name to reckon with in the industry. In just a couple of years, this widely celebrated thespian has set on fire not just the movie industry but the entire Nigerian social media space with his hilarious and highly entertaining comedy skits. His impeccable interpretation of his sugar daddy role in his videos has earned him millions of followers from all over the world with his videos hitting over a million views in just two days each time he drops them. Today, whenever people want to let off steam and laugh away their frustrations, they turn to the extremely hilarious videos of Mr. Macaroni and they are never disappointed.
Last week, City People’s Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL (08037209290) along with reporter SHOLA ABIODUN and Photographer, OLAOLU OGUNTOYINBO, visited Mr. Macaroni in his Lekki Phase 1 office and had a beautiful one hour interview session with him. It was fun being with this incredibly humble and down-to-earth entertainer who, no doubt, has made his parents and entire family proud for his tenacity and determination to make a success of his life. Enjoy excerpts from the interview.
I know you are one of the busiest actors in the industry as we speak, how have you been able to cope with the pressure, shooting movies back to back and being on location for several weeks?
Oh, yes, it’s been exciting. It’s what we pray for. It has always been my dream, but when you get there, you realize it takes a lot of commitment, it takes a lot of consistency. You cannot afford to stop. You have to keep pushing. For me, this is what I have always wanted to do. I wanted an avenue to showcase my talent, to express my talent and showcase what God has blessed me with. From there, it now transformed into what puts food on my table. Yes, the passion is there, knowing this is what puts food on your table. And not just you, but a lot of other people because there are a lot of people working with you, there are bills to settle, families, friends who need support, so you have to understand that as you’re enjoying the work, you also have to take it like real work, real business.
A lot of people who only started following you a couple of years ago and didn’t know you have been around for a while will be t5hinking Mr. Macaroni has been very lucky, making it to the top within such a short while. Share with us the challenges, the story behind the rise of Mr. Macaroni.
I think I passed through all the cadres of Nollywood, and by that I mean, all the branches. You know Nollywood has different branches. There is east, there is west, there’s soap operas, etc. But I first went to PEFTI, that’s Wale Adenuga’s school and I benefitted a great deal from the institution. That’s why there’s no time PEFTI or anybody from Wale Adenuga will call me and I will not answer them. And I think that in the entertainment, the story is the same because I think that for many people, one way or the other, you must’ve passed through Wale Adenuga either through Super Story, Papa Ajasco, This Life, everyone just wanted to be a part of any of the Wale Aedenuga productions. So, I went to PEFTI and did about three months and this was the time I said I wasn’t going to school again. That was when I left Houdegbe North American University, Cotonou, after LEADS University. So, I was just tired of the whole school thing because I was studying Law and I was very aggressive about it. While studying Law, I thought I knew everything about Law so I would not allow myself to be cheated. Even in class, whenever there was an issue, I would start quoting the Law back to the lecturer that was teaching me Law. But while I loved Law and loved to speak up for myself and people around me, theatre has always been my passion. So, I said look, I’m not going to school again, let me go and start acting, let me start going for auditions and all that and that’s when I started going to PEFTI. I did three months training and from there, they started giving me one scene, two scenes of their Papa Ajasco, Super Story productions. In fact, there was one throw back video that went viral one time and people started saying, so Mr. Macaroni sef do Papa Ajasco. So, that’s how it started. So, I started going for auditions in Surulere, Festac and several other locations.
One day I was watching one English movie produced by Stanley Ogbonine and Directed by Ifeanyi Ogbonna, I will never forget their names. So I saw Stanley Ogbonine’s number and I called him up said, oga, I want to act o, I want to be like Jim Iyke and the rest of them that were reigning at the time and he said okay. As it was with many of the theatre training institutions then, and I think it’s still same practice now, we had to pay a certain amount of money to get a form, I did that and they started calling me for auditions, used me as extras and the rest. From there, I started going for auditions on my own in Festac, Surulere, those were the places things were happening then as far as movie productions were concerned. At some point, my parents insisted I had to go back to school to get a degree. They were like, whatever you want to do, if you like, go and dance naked, but get your degree first, so I returned to school in Redeemers University. There was a lot of drama there too. While I was still in school,. One of my egbons whom I met at Leads University, Jide Sadiq, he’ is still my very good egbon till now, he said, ah, bobo yi, these English movies you’re doing is good o, but you also need to come to Yoruba movies because a lot of people watch Yoruba movies and when people start seeing your face regularly, there will be demand for you and your ratings will rise and that was how I joined Odunfa caucus. I picked up forms, followed the process too. Even though I was studying Theatre Arts in school as a thespian, I still knew that there was nothing I knew then that could match what the likes of Yinka Quadri, Ogogo, Abbey Lanre knew. If they tell you this is how we do it, this is how those before us did it, then, you listen and do exactly as they say. I started going for regular rehearsals and that was how I got into the Yoruba industry. Whether it was tv series, films, be it English or Yoruba, or even Igbo, I entered everywhere. But by 2018, 2019, I was fed up. I felt I wasn’t getting what I wanted.
Why? Were you expecting things to happen for you a lot sooner?
Well, not that I was expecting the fame to come that early, in fact, when it came late 2019 and early 2020, I was surprised because I wasn’t expecting it to come that soon. Though I always knew that I would be successful, baring in mind that I would be whatever I wanted to be by His grace. ButI didn’t know the time. So, I was tired, not because the stardom had not come but I was tired of not getting the roles I wanted to get. I wanted roles that would show that acting dey my body, not the roles I was getting like the ones that they would say go and fry puff puff for Odunlade Adekola (laughs). Another thing was that I had some issues in the industry because anywhere I am I will talk. If I see some things I don’t like, I will talk. So, some people started saying bobo yen, onijogbon nio, he’s a trouble maker o, don’t involve him in your production and that kind of started working against me. Then, in late 2019 I said look, this content that they are doing, the likes of Broda Shaggy and others, I could do this. Before then, when those guys first started, I was looking at them like, what are these guys doing? Because I was studying theatre, I was like, this is not theatre, that was my own thinking at the time. I was focused on working with the likes of Kunle Afolayan, Tunde Kelani, and show that, yes, I am a thespian. But after forming thespian for so long and not getting what I wanted, I said look, this content creation thing is theatre o, its you, Debo, that you’re not seeing it like that. I needed to understand that it’s also a medium of expression, it’s an art form. What completes theatre is drama, dance, music, expressing yourself, performing, so I said, why not? Try it, it might not be as bad as you think.
It was out of that tiredness, frustration and depression that I said, let me try this thing. I told myself, why am I feeling funky when nobody knows me, just try something. So, I called one or two people that had cameras, I didn’t know how to use a phone to record, I was already used to using proper cameras, but I wished I knew how to use a phone because it would definitely save me more money, but then, I didn’t mind. I said, baba, you get camera, let’s record something, and that was how I started creating content. And when I started, I didn’t even start with Daddy Wa, I first started with normal content. So, some people that had already started following me probably after seeing my face in some soap operas or Yoruba movies, kept following me but they were indifferent to what I was doing. Even my friends too were not really excited by what I was doing. That Agbada was what I used for my birthday shoot the previous year, 2018, so I said to myself, baba, why don’t you act like an old man, you have been doing young boy, nothing has come out of it, act like an old man that likes women and is always chasing young girls up and down. And I did that. The very first video that I did, even with the small audience that I had at the time, I saw the reaction. More people watched it, more people engaged it. Even my friends went on to post it on our group chat and everyone started reacting to it. And they were making comments like wow, it’s so hilarious, you his Debo, you have gone nuts o! So, that was how in knew they liked it. I now said, but how about the previous ones I did, didn’t you guys like that one? They were like, oh, boy, that one, na only you understand wetin you dey do o! With that, I now said, why don’t you start creating content around this character, and that was how it started.
This just crossed my mind. What part of Daddy Wa has any semblance with Debo? There must be some similarities because it will be really difficult to totally alienate Daddy Wa’s character from Debo and say Debo does not like women at all, so where does the semblance come in?
(Laughs) Of course we all love ourselves. Men love women, women love men. Truly, it would be a lie to say Debo doesn’t love women, of course I love women, but I don’t think I’m as ridiculous as that character. I don’t think I’m as shameless or as mad as that character. I don’t chase everything under skirt, that man does. Once he sets his sights on a pretty woman, he goes, Oohooh. But, of course, I’m not a saint, I do have my restrictions, I have my limits and I like to keep my things private, on a low. Daddy Wa is simply ridiculous. Yeah, that character was an experiment. In school, theatre teaches you all these things. In school, we have played different characters, different roles like comedy, tragedy…I loved tragedy back in school. Even perhaps till now, I still do. I love to play very touching roles that can evoke emotions, so that when people watch they are triggered to do what is right. But as it is, the country is already hard, the world is going through very tough times, so comedy sells more. People want to laugh, they don’t want something stressing them again. In fact, to be honest, I didn’t know people would like the character like this, I was just using my theatre experience. As an actor, you’re trained to play all kinds of roles, so that makes me a performer.
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