Nollywood actress Teniola Aladese said she was set out to be a lawyer, until she read a book on former American football star O.J Simpson who was accused of killing his wife and her lover friend but was discharged and acquitted of the crime.
During a chat on the WithChude podcast, Teniola said the book by Christopher Darden, a prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson case, made her realised she was not meant to wear the wig and the gown in court of law.
Consequently, she pursued a degree in Mass Communication, with the hope of becoming a newscaster, but she ended up acting having been inspired by Genevieve Nnaji and Regina Askia.
“To be honest, I am not sure I knew I wanted to act up until SS2. I wanted to be a lawyer at first, and then I read this book by Christopher Darden, one of the prosecutors in OJ Simpson’s case,” Teniola said.
“He just chronicled the entire case, I finished this book and I said I am not cut out to be a lawyer. First of all, I do not know what I would do if I lost a case for a client and I saw the point of view of these two lawyers and how they felt about losing the case.
“So, I was like what else can I do? My plan B was that I kind of like acting, I used to watch films, especially Genevieve and Regina Askia. But it was now in SS2 that I was like, I am not sure if I want to go to school to study acting just in case it does not work out for me. What else can I study?
“And I was like my plan B is to be a news anchor and that was why I studied Mass Communication. I asked my parents, and they were like if I wanted to study Theater Arts, I should. But I was like just in case, let me just study Mass Com and I would try acting.”
