Ruth Kadiri Shares How a Chance Visit to National Theatre Launched Her Acting and Writing Career
Nollywood actress and producer Ruth Kadiri has shared how her journey into acting and screenwriting began, saying her first real step into the film industry started unexpectedly at the National Theatre in Lagos.
Speaking in a recent interview on Jay On Air TV, Kadiri recalled how her passion for acting and storytelling guided her path — even when the odds seemed stacked against her.
“Growing up in the slum and getting out of it wasn’t easy,” she said. “I remember going to the National Theatre because I wanted to act. When I got there, I saw like a thousand people or more. I looked around and thought, ‘There’s no way I’m getting this role.’ The crowd was huge, and everyone looked so confident.”
But a small notice on the wall caught her attention and changed everything.
“I saw a sign about screenwriting. Maybe it was God,” she said with a smile. “I just went into the office.”
Inside, she met a man who was teaching screenwriting to a few students. By luck, one of them had not shown up that day.
“He told me I had to pay, but I said, ‘I don’t even have transport to go home.’ He looked at me and said, ‘Okay, you can come.’ So he added me to the class for free and taught me the basics,” Kadiri recalled.
That free lesson, she said, became the turning point of her life and career.
“Learning those basics took me to where I am today. When I wrote my first script, that movie became a hit,” she said.
According to Kadiri, the producer of her first film didn’t initially believe in her talent.
“He even sent the script to Tonto Dikeh and Uche Jombo, and Tonto kept telling him she liked it. He didn’t want to pay me, and I didn’t care — I just said, ‘Give me a small role.’ Eventually, he came back and said, ‘Okay, let’s shoot it.’ I was just happy that my story was being made into a movie,” she said.
That debut success opened the doors to more opportunities and marked the beginning of Ruth Kadiri’s rise as one of Nollywood’s most respected actresses and filmmakers.
