Actor and filmmaker Lateef Adedimeji has revealed that crying on screen early in his career was a deliberate strategy to distinguish himself in the competitive movie industry.

Speaking during an interview on The Morayo Show, Adedimeji said breaking into Nollywood was difficult, and he needed a unique trait to make audiences remember him.

The actor noted that he was initially recognised for his resemblance to a senior colleague.

While he appreciated the comparison, he wanted to be known for something uniquely his own.

“When I came into the industry, it was quite challenging. I resembled one of my senior colleagues whom I love so much. People would say, ‘That guy who resembles Odun, Odun’s brother.’ It was a beautiful thing because they were comparing me to someone great, but at the same time, as a practitioner, people need to know you for something of you,” he said.

Adedimeji said he studied the industry to identify often-overlooked areas that could set him apart, and he decided to focus on emotional scenes.

“So I had to sit, did a lot of research, I asked myself, ‘What is it that people are not paying much attention to that is still important?’ So if I were given a role where I only had to shed tears for two seconds, I would mount pressure on it and make those tears come well,” he said.

The approach worked, and audiences began to identify him by that trait, earning him the nickname “crying machine.”

“So at one point, people started calling me a crying machine. They didn’t know my name, but they would say, ‘That guy who cries so much in movies’ when describing me.

“That was when I knew I was getting somewhere because people were beginning to identify me with something that is of me; then, eventually, you get to know my name,” he said.

The actor also said versatility was key to longevity in the industry: “As an entertainer, you have to be versatile. You have to know a bit about everything.”