Kemi Lala Akindoju is a talented young Nigerian actress. She is known for featuring in various stage plays and blockbuster Nollywood movies including Alan Poza with O.C Ukeje and more.
Early Life
Kemi who hails from Ondo State, Nigeria was born March 8, 1987. She attended The Fountain School, Surulere (Lagos) for her primary school education and then proceeded to Queens College, Yaba (Lagos) for her secondary school education. She studied Insurance at University of Lagos, and she also holds a master’s degree in Media and Communication from the Pan African University.
Speaking in an interview, Kemi noted that her nickname, ‘Lala’ was drawn from a childhood nickname she was given, ‘Kemolala’. As the years progressed, the ‘Kemo’ part dropped and only ‘Lala’ stuck.
Acting Career And Expanding the Frontiers of Acting
She started acting professionally in 2005, and her first appearance was in the play, All I Want For Christmas. For the first 5 years of her acting career, she placed her focus solely on stage performances. She was part of the team that started Theatre @ Terra – a theatre initiative supported by the cultural centre, Terra Kulture, which is located in Lagos. She was on stage every Sunday back to back for 3 years as part of the Theatre @ Terra project.
She has appeared in over 70 stage productions, playing roles such as Amope in Wole Soyinka’s Trials of Brother Jero, Ojuola in Ola Rotimi’s The Gods are not to Blame, Sizwe in Athol Fugard’s Sizwe Bansi is Dead, and Iyaloja in Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman. However, she shot into the limelight fully when she featured in Alan Poza – a Charles Novia film, which was released in 2012.
She also stars in hit MNet TV series, Tinsel as the character, Sheila Monroe.
Lala runs The Make It Happen Productions which is a production company targeted at telling African stories through all mediums; especially film, television and stage.
She produced The V-Monologues in May 2013, worked as the casting director and associate producer with Ndani TV for ‘Gidi Up’ and played the lead role in Tunde Kelani’s Dazzling Mirage. She worked with 2Face Idibia, Kunle Afolayan and Dr. Victor Olaiya on the set of the “Baby Jowo Remix” video in which she featured.
Lala is the convener of Open Mic Theatre, a hub for actors to bond and network and a one-stop shop for fresh talent. She is also passionate about changing the world and has become a global shaper with the World Economic Forum. She has since been selected to attend the summits in Addis-Ababa and Davos and the US.
Awards and Recognition
In 2010, she won the award for Actor of the Year at The Future Awards given due to the strength of her performance as a stage actor. Lala was part of the team of actors selected to perform at the Theatre Royale Stratford East as part of the cultural events at the cultural Olympiad during the London 2012 Olympics.
She is a member of the faculty at the Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts (LAPA), where she functions as a facilitator and teaches improvisation drama.
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