Ini Dima-Okojie
Nigerian banker turned actress and singer
Ini Dima-Okojie (born 24 June 1990) is a Nigerian actress from Edo State, Nigeria. She resigned from her job in investment banking to enroll at the New York Film Academy. She started her career with the first television appearance on Taste of Love and she has featured on many films including the multicultural romcom, Namaste Wahala in 2021 and the Netflix Nigerian original thriller, Blood Sisters in 2022.
Quotes
edit- It was a good experience; an awesome story well told and I got a chance to do what I love doing, alongside some of my colleagues and friends in the industry.
- Her experience in the film The Royal Hibiscus Hotel (11 March 2018)
- The defining moment for me as a person was finding the courage to quit investing banking in 2013 and enrolling at New York Film Academy. That set the tone for my journey and everything that I am today.
- Memorable moment in her life and career (March 2018)
- When I did get an opportunity to work, no matter how big or small the platform, I threw my entire being into it. I was ready and I was ready to be even more ready.
- I will like to see more platforms and channels available to showcase and present the work thespians put in. I will like to see the necessary infrastructure in place to ensure the industry thrives. I will like to know we are operating in an enabling and not stifling environment.
- I mean you go to school and you just think, I’d end up as an accountant or in my case, an investment banker and I did that. But, I couldn’t stop thinking of that girl that would literally imagine herself accepting awards.
- How her transition was birthed from the passion of storytelling (21 October 2018)
- Style is what brings out your best self! What you’re comfortable in and what makes you feel great.
- Her definition of style (2018)
- But, as a kid I always embraced fashion, I was always very outspoken about what I wanted to wear, and I’ve always liked films. So it’s just accepting yourself and saying this is who I am, this whom I chose to be.
- Don’t be afraid to dream, and don’t stop at just dreaming, do everything you can to make it a reality.
- Her advice to young people (2018)
- Teni is quite the fashion girl actually. You can almost say, that is such a Teni outfit and I hope you can with me too but I like to believe that I might be a little more adventurous than Teni. She likes exactly what she likes, and she likes one particular designer and she will play in that field.
- Sometimes I have a colour in mind or I have a general vibe in mind or I have a fabric that I just really want to try. So, I start with whatever it is I can hold on to and we build it from there and I welcome all of the input.
- The first thing I ever did was be a production assistant on a series called Before Thirty. So, I watched behind-the-scenes and then I started to look out for auditions, I started auditioning and I started bagging roles and people started referring me.
- Whenever I watch films or TV shows, it takes me to a place where I want to be able to do the same thing and make people feel the way I do. I always wanted to act.
- I remember Adeoshin, our amazing AD. He cleared the set out so that we could just finish wailing and then we came back and took the scene again. We still cried but it was more like controlled sobs.
- Literally a flood gate of opportunities. We are in talks for a number of projects but the very next thing I’m going to be filming is the next season of The Smart Money Woman. I get to play someone light and happy for a change!
- I was not really all about me and what I did into the project that made it what it is; it was a collaborative effort of everybody, including the director, crew, producer and Netflix who ensured that we give our audience within and outside this space the real movie.
- I remember that I knelt down and told God I really wanted to be picked for this role; I wanted to be part of the cast. I actually went through all the audition process hoping and trusting God that I would get the role.
- It taught me how to be kind, intentional and deliberate because as human beings, it is so easy to point fingers at people while we forget that four other fingers are pointing back at you.
