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JOKE SILVA: A SUCCESSFUL CAREER BUILT ON SWEAT, TEARS AND PROFESSIONALISM

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The occasion was
the October edition of the Filmmakers’ Forum of the Nollywood Studies Centre.
The topic was, ‘Beyond the Glitz: An Acting Career Built on Sweat, Tears and
Professionalism,’ and the guest speaker was Joke Silva. She arrived punctually,
looking very much the part for the topic. Exuding elegance in a black and white
Remy Lagos outfit and sporting an exuberant afro, Joke Silva appeared every
inch the glamorous actress. Relaxed and dishing out to everyone her usual wide
and pleasant smile, she conveyed a sense of ease that belied the reality of the
hard and often challenging work of the professional actor.
One of the
challenges is how to create a believable 
fully fleshed out three-dimensional character. It was clear from the
very beginning of the Forum that characterisation for Joke Silva is not
something superficial. When she plays a role on stage or in a film, she lives
the life of the portrayed character. This came through in her explanation for
the generous afro wig she had on. She had just finished playing the role of an
older woman, she said, and was about to take up the part of a much younger
character in another production. Her wearing of the wig was to help her break
out of the previous role and enter into character for the new role. In not so
many words, Joke Silva made it clear that the body of the actor is the canvass
on which the film/stage character is drawn and made to come to life. The actor
must encapsulate the personality of the character and give it being.

After taking a quick
survey of the members of the audience to find out which of her films they had
watched, Joke Silva spoke about her acting career by describing the challenges
involved in bringing to life the characters she had played in the different
films. One of the truly memorable characters for her was Mama Tega in Amaka
Igwe’s Violated. Being quite young at that time and of a rather petite stature,
the challenge was to convincingly play the part of a much older person, a
powerful and domineering matriarch. But she pulled it off. Among other things,
she built up a profile of Mama Tega based on the characters of the different
older women that she knew. She also paid particular attention to her costume
and make-up, both of which she handled herself. The portrayal was so successful
that people that met her, after having watched Violated, could hardly believe
that she was the same person.
But such successes
do not come easy. Joke Silva shared with the audience her experience of the
gruelling years she spent studying Drama at the Webber Douglas Academy of
Dramatic Art in the UK. Among other things, the course involved intensive
training in acting, movement and voice. The training was such a demanding one
that she actually contemplated dropping out at some point; but she stuck with
it. But it was so tough that she lost a lot of weight – to the point that when
she returned to Nigeria at the end of it all, her father threatened to take
action against the school. But the rigour of the training, Joke Silva says, has
paid off. It has served to give depth to her acting. The message she puts
across is clear: anyone that wants to do well as an actor must be willing to
put in due effort.
Exuding a true
passion for her profession, the award winning actress stated, “I am wired
for acting.” Her love for acting goes back as far as her childhood, she
stated, when she would convince her friends to stage little dramas for visitors
to the family home. In spite of the more or less prevalent view in society of
actors as ne’er-do-wells, her father and mother, a lawyer and doctor
respectively, gave her their full support from the very beginning. But her
decision to take up acting as a profession, she states, was based on the fact
that, after duly praying about it, she saw it as God’s will for her. As a
consequence, she has always striven, she said, to ensure that every step in her
career is in line with what God wants of her.
In response to one
of the questions asked by members of the audience, Joke Sylva spoke about how
she and her husband, Olu Jacobs, are trying to contribute to the training of
young actors at the Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts. The Academy offers
practice based training and participants are prepared for work in theatre, film
and television.
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