Coronavirus will make actors jobless —Fatimah Adeoye
THE coronavirus pandemic is literally bringing the world to a halt and the entertainment industry has not been spared its destruction. Events have been suspended or cancelled, movie premieres have been rescheduled and filming halted.
For actress Fatimah Ama Adeoye, the pandemic will render her and her colleagues jobless. “This thing is no child’s play, just imagine if an actor’s source of livelihood is just making movies and now the productions have come to a stop because of this virus.
“How will they be able to get by? In fact, they will have no job until this thing is over and we do not even know when it will end. In all seriousness, this virus will cause a lot of harm.
“The movie industry already has its challenges but we are trying to manage it and now this has happened, it is just sad.
"I am putting myself in the shoes of people who have gone for auditions and have probably landed their first gig and then everything is cancelled. How will they be able to live? She told Graphic Showbiz on Tuesday, March 24.
Fatimah Adeoye said producers won’t also be spared financially. “What if the equipment had been paid for or production had started and it has to be put on hold? Who bears the cost? How would you even make your money back? Because they will not be able to produce movies to even sell, it’s a big blow to our industry.
“For me in particular, I have had to put a lot of things on hold. I was supposed to have made appearances in some countries but I can’t because of this.
"These appearances were to bring something to my table but here I am. There are a few scripts that I have to work on in Nigeria but I can’t go because of the pandemic,” she stated.
Fatimah Adeoye said in her own small way, she was educating people on prevention. “I am using my social media pages to educate people the least chance I get. I believe this is the time we need to make a positive impact in the lives of our fans.
“They have been there for us and it is the least we can do for them by constantly educating them on the need to stay safe among others,” she explained.
She revealed that she had been stigmatised after people misinterpreted one of her skits on the virus.
“As an actress, one of the ways I could get my message across was to do a skit to educate people and interestingly when I did, people got it wrong. I was tagged as having the virus and it was disturbing but I am glad things are gradually coming back to normal,” she disclosed.
Sending a message to her fans, Fatimah Adeoye said, “It is my prayer that we follow the directives given us by the experts until everything comes back to normal. Let us not joke with this pandemic because it is real.”