‘It’s Not My Duty To Protect Actors’ Marriages’ – Producer Biodun Stephen

Nigerian movie producer Biodun Stephen has said it is not her responsibility to protect the marriages of actors who appear in romantic scenes.

She made the statement in an Instagram video while responding to criticism about kissing scenes in Nollywood.

According to Stephen, actors and their spouses understand the nature of the profession and should take responsibility for managing their relationships.

She explained that directors and producers should not be blamed if an actor’s marriage faces challenges because of movie roles, adding that actors are free to reject scenes they are not comfortable with.

“There’s this lady that always has a mouth for Nollywood. She said something about the kissing, Nollywood, and producers. And she said something about producers taking things easy on having actors kiss because we’re possibly ruining their marriages.

“Kissing is not really part of my craft because I want you people to watch my movies with your children, but that doesn’t mean that when an opportunity comes for it, I won’t embrace it. I will embrace it as long as the story calls for it.

“One of the things we’re selling actors on screen is believability. You’re selling an emotion, you’re selling a chemistry, you want people to believe this love so that they can root for it.

“Yeah, it can be done without intense kissing, but when you are now bringing things like marriage, that doesn’t work.

“I think that responsibility is on the actor who has chosen the profession and also on the spouse of that actor who has accepted that my spouse is an actor and so therefore things like kissing and rubbing might occur.

“And they must have made their peace with it. That responsibility is not my responsibility.

“We have actors who will say to you that I’m sorry, I can’t kiss for personal beliefs, and there are actors who say I don’t mind kissing.

“My job as a producer or director is to protect you as actors. My job is to present you properly to the audience without harming your person, but my job is not to break your home because that’s not on me. I did not put a gun on your head to work for me,” she said.