MC Oluomo likes me but I never dated him –Taiwo Aromokun, actress

Taiwo Aromokun
| credits: File copy

Taiwo Aromokun, an actress, tells ’NONYE BEN-NWANKWO about her relationship with actor, Odunlade Adekola

About my twin sister

I have a twin sister. People say we look alike. But I am bigger than her. She is not an actress and she doesn’t even like what I do for a living. I am lucky to have a twin sister, who I can talk to and share things with, rather than fair weather friends that will betray me any time. She is the outgoing type and many people have said she should have been the actress in the family. But she doesn’t like acting at all.

 My love for acting

I am passionate about acting. But I started nursing the ambition to become an actress in 2000.  A friend of mine is a costumier. Once, she wasn’t able to get the costumes for a particular movie production. So she came to me and requested some of my father’s clothes. Both of us actually planned it. My dad was out of town at the time. She collected the clothes and went back to location. Unfortunately for us, my father returned unexpectedly because he had to attend a party the next day. Then he searched for the dress that he wanted to wear to the party and couldn’t find it. It turned out that the dress was one of the clothes I gave to my friend. So I ran to the lady and told her to return the clothes. She begged me to hold on for awhile. I started shouting at her. That was on Antar Laniyan’s set. I didn’t know the director needed a character who could shout and make a lot of noise. The director said he didn’t like the cast that he was working with. So when he heard me shouting, he sent for me. My role was just to start a scene in the movie. I agreed to do it, as long as I would be given my father’s dress afterwards. When the film was eventually released, those who saw the part that I acted told me I did very well. They said  I should consider acting as a profession. I had to go back to my costumier friend and tell her I was interested in acting. She introduced me to one caucus. I got trained and I started acting before I started producing my own movies.

Support from my family

My father is late. He was a pastor. He was very angry with me when I chose acting as a career. He asked me if I didn’t consider what his congregation would think about my decision. I asked him what his fears were. He said actresses often ended up not having homes of their own. He said actresses were always involved in one scandal or another. I told him I wasn’t going to bring disgrace to him. I told him I would get married and have a home of my own, that I would never have a broken home. I promised to avoid scandals and not to dent his name. My mother believed in me so much. So she saw nothing wrong with my decision to go into acting. Ever since, she has been giving me her support.

 How I got a break

I can’t really say the movie that brought me to limelight. There was this movie, Agidi; I didn’t even play a major role in it, but my face was used for the poster and on the sleeve. It was actually my first movie. Immediately after the film came out, people started calling me for jobs. I did Girigiri and many other films. I thank God for the turnaround.

 Why I prefer Yoruba movies

I tried to appear in an English language movie, but the producers were quite prejudiced. I think they are scared of mixing with us. We accommodate them. Now we invite some of them to feature in our movies even when the fees that they demand from us are high. I have appeared in two of such movies and in two soap operas.

 Day I was harassed by hoodlums

The government needs to do something about hoodlums. We were shooting a movie and I was expecting one of my actresses. She was coming from the United Kingdom and I was supposed to go and pick her from the airport that night. But I couldn’t go because I was needed on location. I asked her to pick a cab from the airport and come to the location. The trip from the airport to the location wasn’t supposed to take her more than 45 minutes, but she had stayed for more than two hours on her way to location. I was agitated. It was getting late. It got to a point she stopped answering her calls and I was very worried.  So I stood outside and started to call her name. My generator boy wanted to pass a cable and connect electricity. I noticed that some guys came to him and started harassing him. I ignored them. They wanted to beat him up, but he quickly told them that I was the producer and that they should come and meet me. They came to me. They said I should give them money. I ignored them. I thought they wouldn’t do anything since I was a female. But one of them said he would deal with me. I told him he wouldn’t dare. Before I could do anything, he struck me. I hit him back. The generator guy ran in and called the other members of the production crew. The hoodlum picked up a stick and hit me again. We invited  the police. One of them was caught and he was detained for more than three days. He begged to be set free. His superiors also begged to be pardoned. Eventually, he was releasesd. Even the one that hit me came and begged as well.

 My relationship with MC Oluomo

I don’t know the source of that story. I will not deny the fact that I know MC Oluomo. The first time I saw him was in 2009. Bisi Ibidapo-Obe is my closest sister and friend in the movie industry. She was launching her movie and I was invited. I had not heard of nor met MC at that time. During the event, one of MC Oluomo’s aides walked up to me and said his chairman wanted to see me. I went to him and he said he liked me and that he had been watching my movies and he liked the way I act. I said I was like a daughter to him. He told me he had a set of twins and he had always wished to meet me. I didn’t see him again until early this year. The same Bisi was marking her mother’s birthday. I hardly attend parties, but I had to attend that one because of Bisi. MC was sitting on the same table with my senior colleagues. I went there and I greeted everybody and walked away. The next thing I heard was the rumour that I was dating him. Even they said that Liz Da Silva and I slept with MC at the same time. The ironical part of the story is that I don’t even talk to Liz. She is not my friend. So I don’t know how both of us would have gone to sleep with same man at the same time.

 Odunlade Adekola and I

I am very blunt and God-fearing. I actually went out on a date with Odunlade Adekola. I will not deny it. But we are no longer dating each other. We are just friends now. In fact, we will remain just friends for the rest of our lives. We are still close. People tend to get the wrong ideas when they notice that a particular guy casts a particular lady in his movies constantly. Odun is a very sentimental person. He believes that I am a good actress. He is well known. Right now, he is number one in the Yoruba movie industry. He believes that somebody can benefit from his stardom and succeed as well. I think that was what he did for me. God will not come down to help you. He would send you help through people. God used him to lift me up in the industry.

 Why we broke up

We broke up for a personal reason. I wanted to move on with my life. Odun was married with two adorable sons and he was not ready to take a second wife. So there was no point in continuing the relationship. I would have married him if he had asked me. I know my father would not have been pleased with that if he was still alive. But marriage is about understanding and happiness. If I find a man that understands and respects me, loves and cares for me, what else do I need? Despite the fact that we are no longer lovers, we still communicate to each other. It was rumoured I fought with Flakky Ididowu over Odun. It is not true. Such a thing didn’t happen. I have seen Flakky just once this year. I don’t go to parties. How could I have fought with Flakky during a party? People think I am proud and I hardly talk to my colleagues. But that is not the case. I am only reserved. I always keep to myself in order to avoid gossip. I was hurt when my relationship with Odunlade broke up, but life goes on. The truth is that we didn’t even break up like that. We just came to a mutual understanding. A friend of mine actually said I was the one who didn’t want to marry Odun. I asked her why she said so. She said a lady should know how to hook a man. But I am not that kind of person. I knew he was married before we started dating. But some people are destined to get married to two wives, even if the first wife agrees or not. I shouldn’t be desperate to hook a man. I don’t have any regret dating him. I also know he is happy dating me.

 My new lover

I am currently dating Jesus Christ, who will eventually find another man for me at a more convenient time. I am happy with Him. He doesn’t make my head ache with pain. I don’t believe that dating Odun would affect any future relationship with another man. Any man that wants to date me should know that I have a past. I am not so ugly for anybody to think that I would have been without a boyfriend all my life. I have moved on with my life and I know I would still get another guy. If the guy I meet is married again, I would know I was destined to be a second wife. I don’t know why people are sentimental about actors dating actresses. Bankers date each other.  It wasn’t as if I dated a physically-challenged person. Even if he were, I still liked him a lot. Most of my colleagues are getting married. I am happy for them. But I also pray the marriages work out. I feel pained when a colleague’s marriage breaks up. It makes me remember what my father said about this profession before he passed on.

 The London affair

I learnt they said I was stranded in London. But that is a fat lie. I was never stranded in London. Even before the story broke, I was already in Nigeria.