Why I Needed Therapy After My Last Role – Deyemi Gets Real

Acting is not easy! This is a reality that so many people forget and so many need to realize. Putting one's self in physical and mental states of distress over and over again for the sake of a job is not normal, and actors who do this really put themselves on the line and can enter into serious trouble if they don't get coping mechanisms in place to help them transition in and out of emotions for roles.

This reality is something renowned Nollywood actor Deyemi Okanlawon is speaking about during a new interview with Arise TV. Deyemi during the interview opens up about why he needed to seek real help in the form of therapy after his latest role, and also opened up about why he copes with the demaning mental health tolls that can come from being an actor. Here's what Deyemi had to say.

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During his interview, Deyemi was asked "How would you say this project took from you in terms of your time, in terms of your mental capacity, and in terms of your mental health as well?" Deyemi responded:

DEYEMI OKANLAWON: I was just coming from having one of the most interesting years of my life. I think I really got to see the underbelly of humanity. I've always projected love, or tried as much as I can to project love and peace and light, and do my job. And I just always felt the same would happen to you automatically. I found out that's not true.

But you see all that energy, I took that energy and I put it into this character. And again, I have three boys, and I really cannot tell you what will happen if anyone were to threaten my children or my wife in any way, shape, or form. Just taking that thought and building on it, I found that I was in a constant state, and you'll see it in the movie, of rage.

And it took a while to get out of that character. I have been careful over the last few years and I have been very very selective about the work that I do. Just because I immerse myself so much into characters that I'm just trying to be more careful with my mental health. I've been careless with my mental health in the past and I've seen the results of that. But it's been deliberate and I'm very intentional about extricating these characters from myself.

So yes you'll see a character who is filled with rage from the incidents that happen in the movie, and for it to be real to the audience, it has to be real to the actors as well. So I went through that process.

It was real, it was traumatizing. I personally believe everybody in this country should seek therapy. And I have created a system whereby whenever I go through these characters or productions, I always have a safe space to go and get myself back in the right mental state because it can get very real!

What do you think of what Deyemi had to say? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment either below or on my Jide Okonjo Facebook post.

That's All.

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