Nollywood actress Omoni Oboli has endorsed the casting of Hollywood actor Idris Elba as the lead actor in the upcoming film adaptation of Chinua Achebe’s classic novel Things Fall Apart.
Things Fall Apart, a novel first published in 1958 by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, depicts life in pre-colonial Igboland and the subsequent emergence of European missionaries and colonial forces in the late 19th century. I’m drawing.
The story was first adapted into a live-action film in 1971, and was made into a miniseries in 1987, with veteran Nigerian actor Pete Edochie playing the novel’s main character, Okonkwo.
It was recently reported that Idris Elba and Gina Carter will executive produce the series, which is currently in development, under the “22Summers” banner.
The development sparked several reactions as many Nigerians feared that the British actor would not be able to play the role well because he is not ‘Igbo’.
However, in an interview with Channels TV on Saturday, director Omoni Oboli said he had no problem with Elba playing the lead role because he is African.
The filmmaker added that Africans are well placed to tell their stories.
“I think it’s perfectly fine for Idris Elba to play Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart,” she said.
"Idris is African. His father is Sierra Leonean. Yes, he has lived abroad, but he is African. So it’s about Africans telling African stories.
“So I don’t think it’s wrong. I’m just being honest.”
