Love, Loss, and Leading: Adaobi Dibor's Journey to 'Stitches'

There's a moment Adaobi Dibor remembers vividly from her first audition, she describes it almost mystically. "I remember just losing control of my body. I remember just going into, I don't know what it's called, for lack of a better word, I'll call it a trance."

When it was time to act, when I heard action, I just felt like a whole different person."

That audition was for Flatmates, and it changed everything. She also had the role, and the beginning of a career that would take her from commercial ads to Netflix's Blood Vessel to, most recently, the lead in Stitches, BRS Studios' romantic drama that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and hits Nigerian cinemas on November 28, 2025.

The film, directed by award-winning Ghanaian filmmaker Shirley Frimpong-Manso in her Nollywood directorial debut, stars Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Regina Askia, Adaobi Dibor, and Obinna Okenwa. 

But it's Dibor who carries the emotional weight of the story, a gifted fashion designer navigating love, loss, and the brutal world of Lagos high society.

For the actress, it's a role that demanded everything: physical transformation, and emotional depth. And it's a role that reveals not just what kind of actor she's becoming, but what kind of actor she's always been, even before she knew it herself.

The Actress Who Always Knew 

Dibor didn't grow up dreaming of Nollywood stardom. She spent one to two years in commercial ads before a friend suggested she try acting.

"Every time that I show up on set in the advertising space, they kind of just like what I do, right?" she recalls her friend observing. "So he saw that, and he was like, 'You know, I think you make a good actress.'"

Before the ads, and before any of all these became her reality, there was Taraji P. Henson on Empire.

"Prior to this, I had been watching Empire, you know, Taraji P Henson. And when I saw her on screen, I just knew that someday in my life I was going to be an actress. I just did not know how."

There it was, the seed planted, waiting for the right conditions to grow. Her friend's suggestion was simply the water it needed.

Life as a Nollywood Actor

Ask Dibor what she's most grateful for in her journey, and her answer reveals someone who understands the privilege of her position.

"I think one thing that I love is the fact that we have good stories here in Nigeria. We have really beautiful stories, and I have been blessed to witness and handle some of them."

She also recognises the global weight Nollywood carries. "The fact that our industry is the second largest, even my friends that are outside Nigeria recognize that it’s something to be an actress in Nigeria."

But ask about challenges, and the gratitude gives way to a reality every actor in this industry knows intimately: unemployment.

"You don't go on set every time," she says bluntly. "The unemployment as an actor is quite a thing. I say this everytime, if you don't have a strong mindset or you're not a firm believer in your dreams or in what you stand for, you'd be easily shaken up by this reality. Actors have dry seasons, and we have the rainy seasons as well."

It's the feast-or-famine nature of the profession that breaks people. "When you're working, you're really working. But when you're not working, you kind of lose track of what day of the week it is."

But there's another challenge she identifies, one more existential: "You have to take on different people and purge them out. That's not easy thing to do. But that's the craft that I chose, that I really love. But sometimes it can be interesting to want to purge out the character and actually find you."

The characters leave residue. They change you in small ways you don't always anticipate.

"For example, after Stitches, I started to love knitting."

The character of Boma, a fashion designer, works with her hands, creating beauty from thread and fabric. And somehow, playing her for weeks, Dibor absorbed that. 

Speaking on the kind of actor she thinks she becoming Adaobi leans to her softness.

"I don't know if this is what it is, but it's really looking like I’m a very love-oriented actor because most of the roles that I have done, they're love or soft," she reflects. "I've never really had to actually be insanely stubborn or aggressive.”

“At some point I think I felt uncomfortable with it."

But she's made peace with it, understanding that careers have phases, that you don't need to do everything at once.

"It's growth. We're not in a hurry. We're not going anywhere. I'm not trying to leave the industry." She pauses, finding the right perspective. "These people who are soft and kindhearted and soft-hearted, all these people deserve representation too. So it's really beautiful and really, it's such an honour for me to even be representing whoever I'm representing at this point in my career."

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Why Stitches Felt Like Home

When the Stitches script came to Dibor, several things clicked immediately.

"So I'm sort of a fan of Crazy Rich Asians," she admits.

The comparison makes perfect sense once you understand Stitches' premise: After an unexpected tragedy, Boma, a gifted young fashion designer and hopeless romantic, leaves behind her humble sewing room to join her estranged high-society aunt's top fashion house. 

Two worlds collide, working class meets Lagos elite, passion meets cold pragmatism, love meets social stratification.

"When I saw the script, and they let me know the synopsis, I immediately just thought, yeah, it was something I would like to do."

Then there's the character herself. "She kind of had something to fight for. And that's another thing that really motivates me, the character has to have something to fight for."

Dibor sees herself in that resilience. "That's me, that's me, to be honest. Acting is such a drive. I could legit be very sad right now, and I think about my dreams and where I'm going, and everything just kind of fixes up in my mind. That's how in touch I am with my dreams, just like Boma."

It's the ultimate actor's dream, finding a character who reflects your own values, your own fire, your own refusal to be defeated by circumstances. 

When Dibor read the script, she wasn't just reading about Boma; she was also reading about herself. She was reading about a version of herself.

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Working with Shirley

Shirley Frimpong-Manso's Nollywood directorial debut, Stitches, brought a new energy to the set, one that both challenged and inspired Dibor.

"She's such a powerful person. That woman is such a super, she's a superwoman. She's really strong. She's very driven. And yeah, there were times where everybody else was tired, she always had battery."

This relentless energy became contagious. "I was able to draw from her in some instances or some moments when we were on set, when everybody was tired, and you could see Shirley wanted this thing. And you're like, let's give it."

But beyond energy, Shirley brought clarity. "Working with Shirley really put me on my toes. I've never worked with her before. So working with her, I really like the fact that she could demand from me."

For Dibor, this is crucial. "That's one thing I really want from my directors. Like, director, tell me what you want. What do you want me to do? Of course, I've done my preparation. I've been thorough with my preparation. But what do you think you want to see? What should I add? What should I take out? Or what should I leave?"

"Shirley was very good at communicating that to me. So yeah, it was a very peaceful experience working with her."

Peaceful might seem like an odd word for working with a demanding director, but Dibor means it in the best way: the peace that comes from clarity, from knowing exactly what's expected, from being pushed by someone who believes in you enough to challenge you.

The Weight of Leading

Despite having played a lead role before (Mamba's Diamond), Stitches represents something different: her first romantic lead in a major cinema release, and her first time carrying a film at this scale of production.

The reality hit hard. "Kudos to every actor who has been a lead actor on anything. Whether it's a short film or streaming, or cinema, it's a lot."

The schedule alone was brutal. "In fact, every other person goes to sleep, everybody has a day off, and it's just you and the crew members. You guys have to shoot a montage. You have to shoot something that you're the only actor in."

But the experience taught her something invaluable. "Yeah, it has prepared my mind. It has prepared what the demand is really for a lead actor. And going forward, even if I play supporting, I would bring that mentality or that training into whatever project I'm on, regardless of the role."

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What Made Stitches Special

Beyond the work itself, Stitches impressed Dibor with its production values and care for cast and crew.

"I remember the first day I went to shoot, and I saw the whole village. I was like, Wow, it actually looks like a village."

BRS Studios, founded by Joy Efe Odiete, Ramsey Nouah, and Chris Odeh, brought Hollywood-level professionalism to the set. "There were a lot of people, and it didn't seem like a lot of people, especially from the second day, because we just felt like family."

“I love how we were treated. We were given preferential treatment throughout our stay.”

It's the kind of production environment that's still rare in Nollywood, where actors aren't just bodies to be moved around but human beings whose comfort and well-being matter.

What Nollywood Needs

When asked what the industry needs more of, Dibor doesn't hesitate: "Structure and systems."

She's specific about what she means. "Like, for example, working hours. I know in production there's really nothing predictable per se, but there should be clauses or things put in place to really cater for the human beings that are making the film."

Because filmmakers, she notes, often forget something crucial: "As filmmakers, sometimes we forget that we're human beings and we're shooting around the clock. You shoot for 14 hours, and you have what, like four hours ' rest or five hours, and you're back on set."

Her empathy extends particularly to crew members. "Shout out to the crew members. On some days when we have really late nights, and I show up very dazed on set, and I see crew members moving, I'm just like, oh my God, you guys are superheroes."

Better conditions don't just make people happier; they make better films. It's an investment that pays for itself.

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What She Wants Audiences to Feel

After all the work, and the long hours, what does Dibor hope audiences take away from Stitches?

"Hey, my dear audience, I hope you guys believe in love. I hope you see, I hope you go to sleep that night expecting that your love story happens sooner than ever. I hope you just leave the cinema smiling and believing in love again."

She acknowledges the cynicism of modern romance. "I know that it's a world where it's a lot of give and take, it's a lot of sacrifices, it's a lot of 'show me your cards' or 'I love you but only if you...' But I want people to actually really believe in love, no matter whether it's being given back to you or not."

Beyond Acting: Coaching and Producing

Dibor doesn't plan to stay in front of the camera only.

"I think I'll probably explore being a coach. I do a really good job explaining to people what they should do on screen. My friends who have monologues come to me and tell me, 'Oh, what do I do here?' I don't know what I used to drink with that, but when I say things to them, I kind of really see the difference."

Teaching comes naturally when you understand something deeply. And Dibor, who transformed from a shy girl into someone who loses control in the best way when she hears "action," understands the alchemy of performance.

She's also considering producing. "Or being a producer, like an executive producer type thing."

It's the self-awareness of someone who knows her strengths and weaknesses. She's built for performance and for bringing out performances in others. 

Stitches opens in cinemas nationwide on November 28, 2025. Adaobi Dibor stars as Boma alongside Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Regina Askia, Obinna Okenwa, and an ensemble cast. The film is directed by Shirley Frimpong-Manso and produced by BRS Studios.

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