Actress Ireti Doyle and her character, Flo Ade, getting some attractions. Ireti Doyle is a Nollywood actress, producer, and writer, but the 56-year-old Ondo-born entertainer recently made her debut as an executive producer in ‘The Hidden’, an African Magic original series.
Beautiful Ireti bared her mind recently, and it was reaveling, particularly of the role of ‘Flo Ade’.
Ireti said: “The Hidden” was a synopsis I had written many years ago. It is one of many that I have in my drafts. The difference between the first synopsis and this one is that the first story was centered around teenagers and young adults. Same premise, but I had grown now and I was no longer in my 20s or 30s. This is no longer a teenager and young people’s story, this is grown folk. So that is how it evolved to being grown women living in a house and having their problems dealt with.
To her, the inspiration was creating a central character that represented hope, represented a safe space, and second chances. It wasn’t too much of a challenge and in this instance, it was even easier because I created the character. The original story is mine but look out for everybody. Every character has a story, there is no filler character. Everybody has a story and it is all tied together. Our casting is brilliant. Each person sits comfortably and convincingly in the character that they are portraying.
According to her, it has been nearly three decades in the industry and there have been several lead roles, some of them even bigger than this. Was it tedious getting into a high emotional state? After 28 years of acting, no. Getting into a high emotional state is just the name of the game that I play. I am an actor so that is what is expected of me. I did not particularly find it tedious playing Flo Ade. She is not the most complex of characters that I have played, if anything I wanted the audience to see through the eyes of the other characters. In season one, Flo Ade is essentially sorting out other people’s problems, she is a caretaker. It is abundantly clear that she has demons of her own but we did not get to delve into her problems too deeply in season one.
Ireti opined that the lessons had been learnt. “The Hidden is a composite of different people’s experiences. Some of them were mine, some of them belonged to other people and anybody who knows me well will recognise my story somewhere in the mix. I have lived quite a bit of life so the lessons had already been learnt. It was just more like sharing experiences and alternate ways of dealing with situations”.
Yes there are several similarities. My life is an open book to those that are called me. It is not everybody that you are called to or that is called to you. It is not everybody that will come into contact with you and you will have a word in season for them or they will have a word in season for you. But I have had so many encounters with women and young girls who just feel drawn to me. We will get talking and we will get into deep waters and somehow we will leave each other feeling good about the situation. If not sorted, then at least enough to take the next step.
So I believe strongly that my life is shaped in a manner so that people can learn. Other people can draw lessons. Other people will look and say okay.