What I Say to People Calling ‘Far From Home’ Actors Too Old for the Role - Mike Afolarin

Nigerian young adult television drama 'Far From Home' which has become a Netflix hit has been the talk of the town since its release. One conversation that has come up around the show is on the topic of age. In the show, 'Far From Home', the cast of characters range from between the ages of 16 to 21, whereas in real life, the actors playing these cast of characters are a lot older than their characters.

The lead character on the show, Ishaya, is supposed to be about sixteen years old on the show, but the actor who plays Ishaya, Michael Oladapo Afolarin was born on September 1st, 1993 making him 29 years old. That is a thirteen year age difference between the actor and the character.

During a recent interview, actor Michael Oladapo Afolarin who plays Ishaya Bello on the show, sat down with the good people over at TVC to talk both about how he landed the role, and about this conversation on aging as regards the show. Here is how that conversation went.

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"How did you land this particular role of Ishaya in 'Far From Home'?"

MIKE AFOLARIN: Auditions basically. Simple as that. I mean, auditions basically. I mean, it helps to know a couple of people right, so that they can drop your name in the room when they are doing the casting but you still have to go out there and fight for it, you still have to go out there and show that yeah, I am qualified, I can do this. So yeah, basically that's it.

"Did you stumble on the conversation on social media because some kind of people, when they watched 'Far From Home', they were like "but these are adults na? Why are they making adults play kids?" Did you get things like that?"

MIKE AFOLARIN: Of course. Yes. Uhmmm, everybody has a right to an opinion right? But like, I would say, every now and then, younger actors get to play older actors and that's not even a problem. And I feel like there is only so much a - how do I say it - I can show you what it feels like to be sixteen because I've been through sixteen. Right? It won't be the same if I was sixteen. I probably don't have a full understanding of what it means to be sixteen or whatever age that we are talking about is. So I feel like yeah, I feel like it is more profound when someone that has gone through it shows you what it is.

What do you think about what Mike Afolarin had to say on this topic, and on a personal level, what do you think about the decision of directors and casting crew to cast these older actors to play these younger roles instead of casting actual teenagers or people closer to that age to play it. Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment either below or on my Jide Okonjo Facebook post.

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