Ini Dima-Okojie wants to play challenging characters with range

Whenever Ini Dima-Okojie receives a script, the first thing she looks for is how much the proposed role would challenge her.

The Nollywood actress told Pulse Nigeria during a recent interview she only loves to play characters who have range and allow her to explore.

"You can be deep and emotional but also be fun and light. The whole point of why I do this is I get to experience different kinds of lives, experiences and get to test myself as an actor," she said.

Dima-Okojie has featured as different characters in a range of films and TV series including The Royal Hibiscus Hotel, Sylvia, Smart Money Woman, Namaste Wahala, A Weekend to Forget, Flawsome, and Blood Sisters. She will next be seen playing Boma, an abused housewife, in Kill Boro, co-produced by Ikechukwu Omenaihe, Steve Gukas and Dotun Olakunri.

The actress said Gukas was a significant reason she was attracted to the project, but she also noted she could tell the potential of the film from the very beginning.

"Everything I've done that has stood out, I could tell from the audition side. From the audition side, I already knew this was going to be amazing and by the time I read the full script, I was sold," she said.

"Boma, my character, has so much pain. She's stuck between a rock and a hard place and struggled for everything she's had so far. She has to be a glue and it comes with a sacrifice. The character gave me a lot of range as an actor and she's just such a gripping character," she added.

Kill Boro director, Courage Obayuwana, said it was an opportunity for him to "tell a story from the point of view of women who suffer domestic violence, how they see it and why it's difficult to leave." He also pointed out that the story is about more than domestic violence.

"Kill Boro is a story about family and how a dysfunctional home affects a child."

The film also stars Philip Asaya, Kosisochukwu Ogboruche, Greg 'Teddy Bear' Ojefua, Brutus Richard, Michael Dappa, Blessing Uzero, Beloved Osagie, Hilda Dokubo and Yibo Koko. It is written by Priye Diri, with additional writing by Kester Nsirim.

The film will start streaming on Prime Video on May 30, 2024.

Kill Boro is another First Features project

Kill Boro is part of the First Features project by Gukas and Olakunri who aim to nurture and empower a new generation of film directors.

The project provides the emerging directors with adequate training and funding for their very first feature films.

It Blooms in June, directed by Korede Azeez, and starring Susan Pwajok, Femi Jacobs, Kiki Omeli, Kem Ajieh and Dappa, started streaming on Prime Video in February 2024.

The Ruben Reng-directed Love and Life, starring Rita Dominic, Nse Ikpe-Etim and Michelle Dede, also part of the project, was released in December 2023.

Other First Features projects already revealed are Cake, released in 2022, and A Father's Love, directed by Sebastian Ukwa, which doesn't have a release date yet.