Funke Akindele Opens Up On Sacrifices Before Record-breaking Movies Success

ThenigerianvoiceMar 7, 2026Read original

Nollywood actress and filmmaker has spoken up about her career and the immense sacrifices she had to make in order to attain her career milestone.

The 'Jenifa' star shared her story of resilience while speaking at WemaIWD Bank’s International Women’s Day event, noting that everyone is aware of the money and the accolades, however, she had to sacrifice a lot just to be successful.

Akindele shared that her core sacrifice was avoiding parties, and focused all her time on working on her project.

"We are seeing the billions, we are all saying congratulations, the accolades, Funke is doing a great job. I want to be like Funke, but what it costs me to be sitting here today is a lot. It took my time. When I say ‘my time,’ I mean I didn’t have a life. No party life, no social life."

She shared how she had to take up several roles in the course of her movie production, in order to achieve the unprecedented success.

“I remember locking myself up in Amen Estate for almost two years, just building the Jenifa brand. Writing, producing, directing, playing Jenifer, supervising every department to grow the brand."

The mother of two opened up on how her lack of social life made her colleagues angry at her, including labelling her a "sadist." She explained that they were unaware of how she had to invest her time, including becoming vulnerable during the process of production in order to tone everything to perfection.

“And I remember my colleagues will be so mad at me for not going to people’s parties. What’s wrong with you? She is a sadist, but they didn’t know what I was doing. It took my time, my comfort. Sometimes I want to relax, so I remind myself to stand up. No time to chill, you have a target.

“Then it took vulnerability; I was vulnerable in the sense that when you pour in different things, and you’re all into the production, and some things don’t work out, you sit back and watch them criticise you. I had to take it in, it’s difficult, but it has helped me today to grow."

Funke Akindele's blistering career is a testament to years of hardwork, perseverance, and sacrifices, which has made her stand out as the highest grossing filmmaker in Nigeria, and an inspiration to many in the entertainment industry.