I Find It Difficult Getting out of Jenifa's Character - Funke Akindele

Popular actress, Funke Akindele aka Jenifa is undoubtedly a fan favourite anytime, any day. The prolific entertainer has even taken her creativity a notch higher with the debut of Jenifa’s Diary, arguably one of the hottest shows on TV at the moment,  now in SEASON II.

She speaks more on the indefatigable character Jenifa with BIODUN KUPOLUYI. Excerpts… 

Tell us a bit about the character, Jenifa and how it has evolved? 
Besides the bad English Jenifa speaks, she is a goal-getter. She is crazy, and she wants to do everything any other person can do. She feels life is simple and she wants to stand out; not minding how she does it. And mind you, some people are like that in real-life, so you cannot change Jenifa. 

Are we going to see more of your parents in Jenifa’s Diary?  
Oh yes, in Season Two, you’re going to see my mum, my brother, father and lot of wonderful characters.    

I noticed the director has changed, what actually caused that? 
There’s no big deal; I am cool with the same director for all the seasons, but we just decided to experiment by changing the directors and writers.    

What won’t we see on Jenifa’s Diary? 
There is nothing you won’t see; there are lots of funny situations in the series. It’s not only about laughter; we also treat Issues that actually affect lives. We are going to treat issues like HIV/AIDS, domestic violence and abuse, self-confidence, among other things.    

Are sponsorships rolling in? 
Well, we are trying; we’ve gotten some advert placements.    

Don’t you find it difficult to get out of that character in real life?  
Well, it’s beginning to affect me now, though it wasn’t like that before because it used to be just a movie. When you give me a script for a role in a movie, I get into it and it takes me like three months to get out of it; it’s that bad because I go really deep into it.

For example, it took me about six months to get out of character in “Maami,” and for “Omo Ghetto,” it took me almost a year to get out of it. For Jenifa, it’s been difficult and no thanks to my fans who always want to see the Jenifa character and not Funke.