mojisola sonoiki | TOSINGER'S BLOG

With a dazzler of a smile and a warm personality that radiates on screen and in her pictures and the fact that she is so talented, Adepero Oduye is an actress to be reckoned with. I’d followed her work and journey since I saw her extremely impressive acting in the Pariah movie.

Adepero was featured on Indigo Tongues Women in Media Segment, Series 1 Episode 5. Produced by Iyalode Productions, Indigo Tongues is an exciting new interview series with trailblazers of Africa and the diaspora.

Adepero Oduye, who recently played the riveting role of Eliza, along side Chiwetel Ejifor, Brad Pitt and Lupita Nyong’o in the Oscar winning film 12 Years a Slave met up with Indigo Tongues for an exhilarating interview.

About Adepero Oduye — Adepero Oduye is a Nigerian American Actress. She is the one of seven children born to Nigerian parents. A graduate of Cornell University, Adepero began appearing in short films such as Water and Fall, and in 2006 appeared in the independent drama Half Nelson. After several roles in off-Broadway production, in 2009, she debuted on Broadway in the musical Fela!. In 2011 she starred in the critically acclaimed independent film Pariah. She has received several awards, including a nomination for Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. Oduye cast in the upcoming Steel Magnolias remake with the same title as Annelle Dupuy-Desoto, a role that had been originated by Daryl Hannah.In 2013, Oduye appeared in Ava DuVernay‘s short film The Door part of Miu Miu‘s ad campaign known as The Women’s Tales.She also starred alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor in the film 12 Years a Slave, directed by Steve McQueen. Culled – Wiki

Adepero Oduye is one of the outstanding breakthrough actresses of the last decade. Her career includes an outstanding body of work in Film, Stage and TV. Her stellar debut lead role as Alike in Pariah, earned her several awards and nominations including The African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and the NAACP Image Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture (nominated). Her role in 12 Years a Slave earned her a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. She made her Broadway debut in A Trip to Bountiful, a production that has won several theater awards including a Tony Award for Best Actress by Cicely Tyson. Adepero, the third of seven children is a graduate from Cornell University and lives in New York City. – Indigo Tongues

Mojisola Sonoiki of Iyalode Productions had this to say about the interview..

“I was thinking of who the subject for my next interview would be and one day on the platform of the A train at Jay Street in Brooklyn, I saw Adepero walk right by me (one of the beauties of NYC living….bumped into Dr Oz my first week in the city.) I had seen Pariah and I knew she would be a perfect guest on the series. Once again “the planets aligned” as they have since I started producing this series and it happened. A young Nigerian friend of mine was attending the Ake Festival in Abeokuta, Nigeria and told me that Adepero would be attending. I asked her to make a connection on my behalf and before I knew it, I was speaking to Adepero via email and coordinating an Indigo Tongues interview.

One can only but admire this young lady. Her tenacity, grace, contagious smile and the stream of good vibrations just seemed to radiate effortlessly from her. She is had a depth to her that was refreshing and heartfelt at the same time. Adepero has been involved in projects that many actors/actresses would only dream of and still remains pleasant, humble and respectful. We talked about many things, she shared stories about working in an industry that still grapples with Women and in particular women that look like her.

A very down to earth and pleasant conversationalist, we sat down to some Nigeria food – Jollof rice (Cy’s super recipe) and Dodo (her favorite) got down to the nitty gritty and had so many moments of belly laughs.”

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