Hard work, not hair and parties, made me Nigeria’s Box Office Queen — Funke Akindele

Award-winning filmmaker Funke Akindele says the price of her dominance at the Nigerian box office was personal sacrifice.

In a new interview with _BellaNaija_, the “Omo Ghetto and A Tribe Called Judah” star explained that her string of record-breaking movies didn’t happen by accident. It came from years of putting work above everything else.

Akindele said she was so focused on building her craft that she neglected herself.

She said: “It is a lot of work. When I say a lot of work, a lot of giving your all into work. I was looking back, I was telling myself that, ‘People are saying you look beautiful. You’re loving yourself in the mirror. Why did it take you so long to care about yourself?’”

The producer noted that for years, social life and self-care took a back seat.

“I abandoned myself for work. I don’t even make my hair, except I am going on the red carpet for something very important. I don’t attend parties. I don’t visit people. I put everything into work. Research, writing, work,” she said.

According to her, the obsession with work was intentional: “I am neck deep into work. I sacrificed my time. It is just now that I am relaxed, doing skincare routine, looking beautiful and smelling nice.”

Akindele said those years of sacrifice are paying off. Her last movie, _‘Behind The Scene’_ grossed ₦2.7 billion, making it one of Nollywood’s biggest earners.

“It was a last of sacrifices for me. So for me to get all these achievements, for my last movie ‘Behind The Scene’ to gross 2.7 billion naira, it was a lot of sacrifices,” she explained.

She now says she’s in a new phase — learning to balance the grind with self-love.