Actor Yemi Solade has explained why he once cursed pastors who advised him to avoid work on Sundays.
Speaking on The Honest Bunch podcast, the 64-year-old recounted how church leaders told him to turn down movie jobs on Sundays.
“I’ve been told in the church that I should tell producers not to call me for work on Sundays. And I cursed those pastors,” he said.
Yemi argued that it was unreasonable to ask him to skip work on a day when filmmakers often schedule shoots.
“It is from that thing that you said I shouldn’t do on Sunday that I put my hand in my pocket and I dropped here,” he added.
The Voiceless Scream actor also said he no longer subscribes to the notion that church attendance determines how well one fares in life.
“The notion that if you don’t attend church once life must die, probably I’ve not seen anything change. Rather, I have peace, I do well,” he said.
Lamenting the numerous demands that come with church membership, Yemi said:
“Because every day of my life, when I was going to church, I got messages or sort of disturbances. If you are not invited to one committee, then when will I have time to work?”
On why he prioritises work over Sunday service, the veteran actor stated:
“There’s no way in the Bible that Sunday in the Greco-Roman calendar… you’re telling me not to leave my house and go to where my chop is. You are here to chop on Sunday. Who are you telling me that I should tell? You want to ruin my career?”
He narrated how he once gave money to a technician who later told him he could not show up for work because he was in church.
“I gave him money… Later, he told me he was in church. Do you know that you took my money to that church? You gave part of it; that blessing is mine now. It’s my money you went to drop there. … You went to attend another man’s business.”
Yemi Solade has featured in numerous Nollywood films including Voiceless Scream, Widow, The Other Woman and Elevator Baby.
The Ogun State-born actor is married to actress Hannah Marsh. The union, which followed his first marriage, has produced children.
