Abdulateef Adetola Adedimeji, a versatile gifted actor has landed himself a career-defining role in Seun Oloketuyi’s upcoming film, ‘Last Man Standing.’
The 36-year-old skills at interpreting roles and characters have been consistently proven with over 500 characters including four biopics and he just landed a new one that might define his career for life.
In an interview he had with The Nation, the actor admits his role in the upcoming biopic of ex-governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will be one of the defining points in his career.
For one, who has never been found wanting in interpreting roles and characters, with a capacity to apply moderation and in other instances, elevate his interpretation of roles, Adedimeji says he took up the decision to take on the role in a bid to stretch himself and challenge himself again as an actor.
“At first, when I was told about the project, my first response was that I was not interested in playing the role. It is scary. Politics can be scary, and what came to my head was that this is politics, and it is something I am always scared of. Now, Asiwaju is not a mere politician, he is like a stakeholder, a man that has a lot going on around him, a lot of controversies happening all at the same time, and thinking that in the peak of all of these was when they wanted to put this out, I refused. But again, I know that it is going to be another stretch for me as an actor. I am taking this because I want to challenge myself again, I want to see how far I can push myself again,” he said.
Furthermore, he says he expects to be able to carry the role, and also that people can see another form of him as an actor. “I hope that it is going to be another stepping stone for me in my career. That is all I am about. This career is the most important thing to me now, so I am putting a lot of effort into it to see that it gets me to another level. I pray that I can deliver it in a way that people will say, congratulations, you did well.”
In his words, the film producer, Seun Oloketuyi said the idea for the biopic was necessitated by the need to document the life of leading Nigerians that have made an impact on society while documenting the history of great figures in the country.
In 2021, Oloketuyi had produced a biopic of the Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello entitled White Lion. The film was premiered in Abuja in January 2022.
The film producer also stressed that the film has little or no political affiliation but rather a documentation of history for future purposes and upcoming generations.