HOW I LEARNED TO MIND MY BUSINESS AFTER BEING BEATEN ON SET – OPEBE. (PHOTO).

 How I learned to mind my business after being beaten on set – Opebe

Actor Yomi King, popularly known as Opebe, has opened up about some of his early struggles in the movie industry, revealing that many of the beatings he received on set were not scripted but real.

Speaking in a recent interview on Behind The Fame Podcast on YouTube, the comic actor recalled that some of his experiences during filming went far beyond acting.

“Those sufferings were beyond acting; they were real beatings. That’s what they call acting, you have to do it well and real for people to know it truly happened. Baba Suwe doesn’t mind. Anyone that knows him well knows he will beat you directly; ask the director,” he said in Yoruba, translated to English.

Opebe recounted one particular incident involving his colleagues Baba Suwe and Yinka Quadri, which turned serious during the production of the Yoruba movie Eku Meji.

“A sample happened in a year, I won’t say the name of my boss Yinka Quadri, I won’t mention his name. They had a misunderstanding, real, I thought of it – that if I don’t support Baba Suwe, who would I support? Is it a stranger? I supported Baba Suwe in fighting Yinka Quadri.

” If he passed, I would neglect him because we were all together in Lagos. He’s like a big brother to me in Lagos. We all grew up in Lagos, do you understand? He’s a big brother. I began to support Baba Suwe.

“Baba Suwe had a job -PM used to call actors. We wanted to do a movie called Eku Meji and we would shoot it at Meiran. Meiran was like a village, Meiran at Ijaiye -it wasn’t civilized then. 

“That movie Eku Meji, I had a role with Yinka where he ought to fight me and beat me. And you know that Opebe is lame. And I and Yinka didn’t talk to each other. But when we got to the set, and it was a beating role, I had abused him earlier. When he replied me, it was a slap and a severe beating. I began to shout, ‘Cut! This isn’t a movie anymore.’ I was angry.”

The actor said he soon realised the beating was personal, stemming from his decision to take sides in their earlier dispute.

“He laughed and said, ‘In your life, you won’t interfere in people’s fights again.’ The person I supported -Baba Suwe- was laughing at me. That day, I said to myself, ‘If you abuse each other, it’s none of my business.’ Since then, I know my boundaries.”