Nollywood star and filmmaker Femi Adebayo has revealed how better earnings and his passion for entertainment made him abandon legal practice for acting, despite spending years studying law and fulfilling his ambition of becoming a lawyer.
Adebayo, son of veteran actor Adebayo Salami, popularly known as Oga Bello, said he took the decision in 2005, barely two years after being called to the Nigerian Bar.
The actor made the revelation during an interview on the Afrobeats podcast, published on Saturday, where he opened up about his career journey, family background and transition from the courtroom to the movie industry.
Describing acting as a childhood hobby that eventually became his profession, Adebayo said he discovered that he was happier pursuing entertainment than practising law.
“It was actually hobby turned profession for me. Acting was a hobby because you want to do what daddy does when you are young.
“But I realised that it was paying more and I felt more passionate about it. I feel happy when I do that more than the law that I went to school to study,” he said.
He recalled that after being called to the Bar in 2003, he practised litigation, appeared in court and handled cases for about two years before finally making up his mind to pursue acting and film production.
“I was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2003. I did litigation practice, stood before the court of law and did that for about two years. Something kept dragging me to the acting world, so I gave up in 2005, dropped the wig and gown and went fully into acting and producing,” he said.
However, the latest revelation adds to an earlier account in which Adebayo disclosed just how financially attractive acting had become compared with his legal job.
In a 2025 interview with Pulse, the actor revealed that he was earning just N20,000 monthly as a lawyer when he received an acting offer worth N50,000 for three days’ work.
The offer reportedly became the turning point in his decision to embrace entertainment full-time.
He recalled comparing the N20,000 he earned in a month from legal practice with the N50,000 offered for just three days of acting.
“I said, Femi, this acting is your calling. That was when I decided that I would abandon law practice and face entertainment fully,” he said.
Adebayo also opened up about his father’s reaction to his decision to study law, revealing that Oga Bello was initially delighted because becoming a lawyer had been his own unfulfilled ambition.
According to him, his father could not pursue legal studies because his family lacked the financial resources to sponsor his education.
“When I said I wanted to study law, he was happy because that was his dream. Eventually, when I pulled out from law, it was in between being happy that somebody was taking after him in the acting world and at the same time dropping the wig and gown that he had wanted to hold,” he said.
He added that his father eventually became grateful that he chose acting.
Adebayo’s journey into filmmaking was also shaped by his father’s influence. In another interview, he revealed that Oga Bello took him to rehearsals and stage performances during school holidays, unknowingly preparing him for a career in entertainment.
He also credited his father with helping him establish himself as a filmmaker, revealing that the veteran actor wrote the first seven movies he produced.
Adebayo has since become a prominent figure in Nollywood, working as an actor, producer, writer and director, with major productions including King of Thieves, Jagun Jagun and Seven Doors.
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