Sope Dirisu: 'If the west doesn't say a film is good, that doesn't mean it's no good'

"When Sope Dirisu becomes animated during conversation, his speaking voice ordinarily a sort of polished inner-city London dialect dances into a smooth Nigerian accent. As it happens, his shoulders ease, his eyes smile, he is totally relaxed. If it is true that we become the most distilled versions of ourselves when we are at our most comfortable, then it is clear here that the very essence of Dirisu's personhood is a Nigerian man."

"I'd have said yes if the script was half as good, Dirisu says. When I first got it I was excited to just be working in Nigeria: it was so important for me not only to work there, but also to be in the country independently as an adult. And to get to see my grandma more than once in a year! On top of this, not a lot of actors get to tell a story as tender, beautiful and considered as this one."

Sope Dirisu's speaking voice shifts from polished inner-city London dialect to a smooth Nigerian accent when animated, reflecting a relaxed Nigerian identity. He served as lead actor and executive producer on My Father's Shadow, filmed on location in Lagos over eight weeks in early 2024. The film, set during Nigeria's 1993 election crisis, was inspired by the relationship between brothers Wale Davies and Akinola Davies Jr, with Akinola directing. Dirisu accepted the project to reconnect with Nigeria, to be in the country independently, to visit his grandmother, and to tell a tender, beautiful, considered story while temporarily relocating from the US for other work.

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