Kunle Afolayan's daughter Eyiyemi wants to be better filmmaker

Nollywood actress, Eyiyemi Afolayan, isn't overwhelmed by the film legacy that runs in her family and is confident of having an even better career than her father.

Kunle Afolayan is one of Nollywood's most accomplished filmmakers, with The Figurine, Phone Swap, and October 1 under his belt. He's the son of Adeyemi 'Ade Love' Afolayan, a respected filmmaker and dramatist, who also fathered other actors Gabriel Afolayan, Moji Afolayan, and Aremu Afolayan.

"I've seen my grandpa's movies and I can see there's definitely a development from the way my grandpa used to make his movies to how my dad makes his movies," Eyiyemi said during an interview with Channels TV this week.

"In a few year's time, I'm going to be a very big filmmaker myself and I'm going to do better by God's grace," she added.

The 18-year-old made her film debut in her father's Netflix original, Aníkúlápó, in 2022, playing Omowunmi, a princess, and reprised the role in Aníkúlápó: Rise of the Spectre, a sequel TV series that started streaming on March 1, 2024.

She said working with her dad was seamless and expressed gratitude for getting a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to do something she loves. Even though she felt overwhelmed at first working with veterans on the project, everything worked out in the end.

"Everyone on set didn't treat me like a kid. They came down to my level. I was able to warm up to them and it didn't seem like I was the youngest on set," she said.

Eyiyemi, also a model and singer, is ready to take on Nollywood and do great work, but she has other priorities to attend to at the moment.

"Education is my focus, but I'll be done in two years; when I'm done, I'll be in the industry fully," the mass communication student said.