A video of Theatre Arts students performing live at the University of Ibadan recently went viral, and for good reason.
Their delivery was passionate and impressive. It was one that makes you remember why you fell in love with storytelling in the first place.
But beyond the applause and admiration, the video sparked an uncomfortable conversation on X (formerly Twitter): Why are these well-trained, deeply skilled thespians rarely the ones we see in Nollywood films?
“People legit go to school to study Theatre/Performing Arts. Why do they keep recycling the same actors that have been in our faces instead of scouting for new ones from these departments?” one user asked.
It’s a question that cuts to the heart of a silent crisis in Nigeria’s film industry: a growing divide between trained performers and popular personalities.
RELEVANT: Are Skit makers professional actors? Here’s what I think
Genuinely asking if there is any form of arrangement whereby Nollywood people visit Performing Arts/theatre Arts departments in Nigeria to pick some of the best students in each department and give them platform to showcase their talents. I am not sure this is a thing in Nigeria. https://t.co/oAREGmo2Il
— Billionaire SAN (@UsmanAbidemiEsq) October 29, 2025
When Influence Becomes the New Qualification
In today’s Nollywood, it sometimes feels like all you need to land a movie role is a massive Instagram following or a Big Brother Naija background.
The logic is simple but shallow: cast a reality TV star, a TikTok influencer, or an Instagram baddie with a million followers, and boom, your film gets instant attention.
Forget that many of these people can barely deliver a convincing line or interpret a character. Their fame guarantees streams, clicks, and visibility.
But at what cost?
We’re raising a generation of actors who think performance is about camera angles and lip gloss, not discipline, technique, or craft. And the worst part is that the real actors, the ones who studied, rehearsed, trained, and lived this thing, are watching from the sidelines.
RELATED: ‘Not having Instagram followers hindered me’ – Deyemi Okanlawon on early acting days
Where Are the Industry Gatekeepers?
As one X user, @UsmanAbidemiEsq, rightly asked:
“Is there any arrangement whereby Nollywood people visit Theatre Arts departments in Nigeria to pick some of the best students and give them platforms to showcase their talents? I am not sure this is a thing in Nigeria.”
He’s not wrong. There’s no structured pipeline between university Performing Arts departments and Nollywood. No talent scouting, no mentorship, no casting network that connects graduates to production houses.
Contrast that with Hollywood, where theatre schools are grooming grounds for film stars, from Juilliard to Yale, NYU, and RADA in the UK. Those industries actively mine talent from academia. In Nigeria, our producers often mine from…
ALSO READ: Actor Taye Arimoro says he lost roles for not having many Instagram followers
The Commerce of Casting
To be fair, producers have their reasons. Film is a business, and marketing matters. It’s easier to pitch a movie featuring a former BBNaija star or viral skitmaker than a talented but unknown graduate from the University of Ibadan or UNILAG.
Visibility sells. Name recognition helps. But that logic shouldn’t replace craftsmanship.
When films start prioritising popularity over performance, you get what we’re getting now:
flat line deliveries, awkward emotional beats, and scripts that try (and fail) to hide weak acting behind fancy camera work.
It’s also why audiences often complain that Nollywood movies don’t feel real anymore because realness (that feeling of forgetting you’re watching a movie) comes from trained performers who understand method, motivation, and movement.
ALSO READ: Uzor Arukwe hates Nollywood filmmakers casting actors based on Instagram followers
You’re assuming that talent is the goal in the recruitment process. No, it’s more about popularity which is why everyone who spends time on BBN will gravitate to Nollywood…distasteful
— Hercules! (@opaluwaachile) October 30, 2025
The Lost Theatre-to-Film Pipeline
The irony is painful. Theatre Arts departments across Nigeria are producing some of the most technically sound, emotionally intelligent performers in the country. Students are taught everything, from voice modulation to stage blocking, characterisation, mime, and even dramaturgy.
They graduate, full of hope and skill, only to find out that the industry they love doesn’t have space for them.
“I just feel sth like that should he done frequently to help these guys showcase themselves to the world. They need a platform.I just realized lately that some (don’t want to say most) of our popular artists did not study theatre arts. The people who studied it are mostly jobless..”
Many of these graduates turn to teaching, corporate gigs, or give up altogether. The few who push through often by self-producing stage plays or short films rarely get the mainstream visibility they deserve.
I just feel sth like that should he done frequently to help these guys showcase themselves to the world. They need a platform.I just realized lately that some (don’t want to say most) of our popular artists did not study theatre arts. The people who studied it are mostly jobless.
— Billionaire SAN (@UsmanAbidemiEsq) October 29, 2025
What Could Change?
The solution isn’t to exclude influencers or BBNaija alumni. The solution is to balance the table. Producers need to rethink casting purely as a marketing tool. Star power should complement craft, not replace it.
