In a recent conversation on Relebogile Mabotja’s podcast, South African actress Linda Sokhulu articulated what has quietly become one of the most pressing crises in modern film industries across Africa: the collision of acting as a craft and acting as a commodity.
For Sokhulu, the disparity became clear in something as simple as scrolling through social media.
“There are times I will deliberately look for an actor I have such great respect for just to see,” she said, “and then I’ll see that they’ve got fewer followers than a person who’s an influencer. And that’s not to say the influencer doesn’t deserve their followers. But for me, it says these are two completely different jobs that are now being forced to look like one.”
The social media standard
Her words echo the frustrations of many Nollywood actors who have openly lamented being sidelined by casting directors because their follower count wasn’t high enough.
For some producers, the size of an actor’s digital footprint has become as important, sometimes even more important, than their skill in front of the camera.
