Esther Ayele: I Often Experience Sexual Harassment On Instagram with Some Calling Me a Prostitute

Esther Ayele:  I Often Experience Sexual Harassment On Instagram with Some Calling Me a Prostitute

Esther Ayele is an actress, lifestyle expert and baker whose passion for what she does has started building valuable path for her in the industry. Her lowly and charming personality has brought her into her core area, which is acting. In this interview with Tosin Clegg, she talks about starting out, challenges, future plans and so much more

Growing up

My parents weren’t that rich, so it wasn’t easy at all. I am an introvert, so I hadly go out to socialise with people because my dad was overprotective of me. I spent most of my time at home with family, aside school, as I had few friends too. I graduated from Queens College Yaba, gained admission into University of Ilorin but I couldn’t go due to some reasons. I am processing my admission for school this year and I pray it works out. My childhood dream was to be an accountant, but I have always had a passion for acting while growing up.

 How I got into acting

After my training in baking, I started getting orders for cakes but when the orders weren’t coming in as expected, I just thought about giving acting a trial. I started baking in 2017 and was enrolled in a baking school for a year. In the first three months, I made sure I paid attention to my boss and luckily for me I learnt fast. So, after six months I started taking orders and they were coming in very fast. I made profits from them too and, so far so good, it’s been great. Going into acting, I sent messages to a few people on Instagram. I was lucky to get replies from some of them and that’s how I started. I always had passion for acting, actors usually came to where we stayed back then for movie shoots and my mum was selling food; so they were patronising her. And most times I go to deliver the food to them, so I watched them act.

 I haven’t really experienced much challenges

Sometimes, I want to shoot with some top content makers, but I don’t usually get the opportunity and I hope I would someday. I also experience sexual harassment from people on Instagram, calling me a prostitute, demanding for sex. Some would even want to pay for a one night stand and all of that, but the best way I overcome these people is to ignore them.

My kind of acting portrays exactly who I am and that’s an emotional and reserved person. Acting is everything to me as it gives me an opportunity to be everything I want to be in a character because that way I get to explore and learn more. A good director, casts, and the crew make a good production and that really depends on how you relate on set. I recently featured in a production. I did something with De’ecclessiates Production after I got a message from Mr. Chris Onyenso that he would like me to play a role in one of his movies. I thought it was a joke at first, until I got the scripts and was called to come to the location. I am always very sensitive when learning a new character. I can market myself more effectively, because I know who’s going to be interested.

 What makes me an exceptional actor

I would say it is the ability to play my roles well, the ability to be in character always when on set. My director would make you understand that you don’t need to cram the whole lines in a script, just read and understand then put it in character. The fact is I am always ready to learn and I try as much as possible to always give the best in the character I am given. I am also good in any role I am given to play. I see myself working with the best actors in the industry both home and abroad. I’m also using the platform to gather the youths who have passion for acting and give them an opportunity to showcase their talents. I would like to explore the Yoruba movie industry because I love Yoruba movies and would really love to work with some of their great actors too.

Competition in the industry

There’s a lot of competition in the industry and that’s one of the challenges we have, most especially among the female actors. I think the best way to resolve this is to help each other grow.

Let the female actors create love among themselves. Secondly, there is this depravity among some directors and producers who insist on having a thing to do with you before giving you a role to play. It would be a great thing if there is a stop to it so that other upcoming females can have the opportunity to show their passion for acting.

I am a very kind hearted person

I love to meet new people, socialise and learn from others. I am an introvert, I like taking responsibilities of my actions and I tend to relate with people so as to understand them too. I am not really the fashionable kind of lady but I make sure I am comfortable in whatever I wear and that they are very simple. I like short, tight gowns that display my body figure and my mum complains sometimes but it’s what I feel good wearing. I take enough fruits, water and I do a little of exercise to keep in shape.

Dealing with social media

I get a lot of comments, both good and bad, most especially on Instagram in my comment section and through direct messages. Some of them judge me by what I wear, I get harassed on the road by guys and it’s very embarrassing. Some of these guys tell me how they imagine making out with me in their heads, but I get compliments from girls too. I just see all these as normal. At times, some of the comments get to me and I feel bad about them, but most times I just ignore, block them and move on. I don’t let it weigh me down.

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