When the Anikulapo pilot was released on Netflix two years ago, it was well-received for its brilliant story and commendable performances of the lead actors, Kunle Remi’s Saro and Bimbo Ademoye’s Arolake, whose on-screen chemistry commanded attention, as they skillfully navigated their characters’ arcs, conveying a range of emotions with depth and conviction.
Anikulapo: Rise of The Spectre, a 6-episode extension of the pilot, continues with the story of Saro and Arolake, adding twists and turns while introducing new characters to help drive the story in this vast Yoruba land to its climactic ending.
Ahead of Anikulapo: Rise of The Spectre release on Netflix, Michael Kolawole had an exclusive conversation with the talented cast members for What Kept Me Up. In conversation with him were Lateef Adedimeji who plays Awolaran, Bashorun’s son; Uzee Usman who plays Prince Kuranga, Ede’s warlord prince and Oyo Kingdom’s foe; and returning performer Eyiyemi Afolayan who plays Princess Omowumi, the damsel between the two warring men.
The actors share their experiences during the shooting of the 6-part series, challenging scenes, and their hopes for Anikulapo to positively impact the industry and audiences.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Spoilers Ahead
Let’s get into it with the new cast members. What drew you to your characters in Anikulapo: Rise of The Spectre?
Uzee Usman: It is something I have always wanted to do. When I got the opportunity to play the role, I went all out. I’m glad I put my best in my character. I look forward to doing it more.
Lateef Adedimeji: I’m excited to be a part of history. It’s always good to be part of something magical and thrilling to be spoken widely about for a long time. I don’t think we have had an indigenous Yoruba series of this scale. This is the first. I’m glad it’s happening in my time and I’m a part of it.
Yoruba culture is rich in tradition and mythology, from which Anikulapo draws a lot of inspiration from. How did you immerse yourself in your role?
Lateef Adedimeji: My actions, speaking style, and appearance are well planned by the director through my character bible. Apart from my tribal marks, he instructed the make-up artist to make me look super handsome. So, they painted me over and over. When they didn’t get my make-up right, he kept telling them that he wanted my face to be calm and attractive. The director knows what he wants from me. He often called me and got into my head, explaining what he wanted from me until I blended fully into the character. The director believes in me. I’m glad I didn’t betray his trust in me.
Eyiyemi Afolayan: Blending into the character wasn’t that difficult, it was like playing my normal daily life. Besides my costumes and tribal marks, my character is relatable. My character is young and beautiful. I’m young and beautiful. The only difficulty I had was the language. My Yoruba wasn’t fluent enough to give the indigenous Oyo style. What mattered was that I was still able to speak the Yoruba language, indigenous or not, which I am sure the audience would accept.
Uzee Usman: I have a few challenges with code-switching and code-mixing diverse languages because my character speaks Yoruba, Hausa, and Arabic. It wasn’t easy at some point during the filming, especially trying to get the Arabic language right. Unknown to the director, I kept calling mallams (Islamic clerics) to be sure my Arabic dialogues were correct and properly pronounced. I’m glad I got it right.
Anikulapo portrays the themes of power, sacrifice and destiny. How do you think your character’s journey reflects the themes?
Lateef Adedimeji: Every character in this series has a backstory. The series will be long-lasting, and you can’t predict the twists and turns. You can’t also predict the actor that will lead or not lead the next season. Talking about power, my father Bashorun is a very powerful and important man in the community. My destiny is whether I will marry Princess Omowumi or not. Although it heavily relies on my father’s decision, it is not in his power. If it’s destined that I will marry the princess, it shall be. And sacrifice? There are a lot of them. Kuranga (played by Uzee Usman) and I fight against each other to decide our destiny to marry the princess. In short, people should be expected to be captivated.
Uzee Usman: I play Kuranga, a powerful and fearsome warlord, the arch-enemy of Bashorun, and the nightmare of Oyo. My destiny is to marry the king’s daughter, which means I must battle Bashorun’s son (Lateef Adedimeji). So, sacrifices are made in the course of my journey to defeat Bashorun and his army, conquer his son, and marry the princess.
Eyiyemi Afolayan: As the cherished princess of Alaafin Ademuyiwa, I was in love with Saro, who was seeing Olori Arolake, one of my father’s wives. After sneaking on the two of them making love, I was brokenhearted and I reported them to my father. That led to the expulsion of Saro and Olori Arolake from Oyo town. In the new series, my destiny is tied between two men: the fierce-some warlord, Kuranga, and the son of Bashorun, a powerful man in our community.
That is quite a web of several characters that revolve around you, Eyiyemi. What was it like working with your fellow actors? A stand-out moment during shooting?
Eyiyemi Afolayan: Many of the actors are the people I look up to, they are people I have been watching since I was a child. So it was challenging and also interesting to find myself in their midst and playing intimate roles with some of them. For the second question, I had many but I will share my favorite two. When Kuranga (played by Uzee Usman) and I had an intimate moment on our wedding night, and he died, I was scared, not just in the movie, but in real life. I can’t get the moment out of my head. It was so scary seeing blood coming out from his eyes and nose. This was frightening. I never pray for anyone to experience such in their life.
Another scary moment was when Kuranga died and rose again. Then he finally died. His family came to my father’s palace and forcefully took me to my husband’s home, despite his death.
What do you want viewers to take away from the series and your characters?
Lateef Adedimeji: The pilot episode (2022’s Anikulapo) isn’t close to the series in terms of storytelling brilliance and interesting acting. People are going to feel, love, and learn from the series because it has political, historical, and romantic aspects. I believe this series will change the narrative of how people live life. It’s going to affect us positively in the long run. For my character, they would love and sympathize with him. But they should embrace his truthfulness in life.
Uzee Usman: As Lateef said, this series will change a lot in our industry. People should be expected to be intrigued by my character.
Eyiyemi Afolayan: Though this series is an extension of the pilot, it is slightly different in activities. As I said earlier, my character is relatable. People will enjoy her a lot.
Anikulapo: The Rise of the Spectre is now streaming exclusively on Netflix with six episodes.
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