Bob Hearts Abishola's Folake Olowofoyeku joins Nigeria's campaign to beat COVID-19: 'Didn't want to just donate'
'Bob Hearts Abishola' might have ended its season early on CBS due to the ongoing pandemic which shut down production, but Folake Olowofoyeku — who plays Abishola — is still busy at work. Olowofoyeku is using the One campaign to help spread the word about how COVID-19 is a global pandemic, especially in her native country Nigeria.
MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) spoke to Olowofoyeku about her work in the first season of 'Bob Hearts Abishola', where she's starring with TV veterans like Chuck Lorre and Billy Gardell. She said, "Coming into that family, it's like working within a well-oiled machine. Everything runs smoothly. It's been really easy and seamless working with them."
When asked about how important it was to tell the story of an immigrant on 'Bob Hearts Abishola', Olowofoyeku said, "It's so nuanced. I don't really quite know how to explain it because I'm still living it, I'm still kind of experiencing it. Even now that we're on lockdown due to the quarantine, I'm experiencing a completely different side of being part of the project. I'm able to just take a step back and watch the show again and process what it means."
Olowofoyeku also spoke about when her song 'Happy Happy (Money Dun Come)' released and how it was fun playing it with the crew behind the scenes.
She said, "I remember there was one scene — a montage where Abishola is really sad because she and Bob broke up — and Kemi (Gina Yashere) tries to make me laugh. The whole time we were shooting that scene, I didn't laugh until Gina jokingly said one of the lyrics of my song and everyone just burst out laughing. That was fun."
We also asked Olowofoyeku what she would like in the second season should 'Bob Hearts Abishola' be renewed. To this, she says she hopes to see a wedding in Abishola's future. She said, "Traditionally in Nigeria, weddings can last a few days — a handful of days from the engagement to the introduction to the white wedding to the traditional wedding. So I would love to see us take the production to Nigeria and to a wedding sequence for a few episodes. That's what I would love. I think that would be groundbreaking. I don't think anyone's ever done that before and I think it will be beautiful."
MEAWW also spoke to Olowofoyeku about her work with the One campaign. She said, "I wanted to find out how I could be useful during this time and it was really important to me that I involve myself with something that allowed me to be hands-on in some capacity. I didn't just want to make a donation. I wanted to be really involved."
She continued, "The One campaign came into my sphere and I had a talk with them. I was really impressed with their goals to hold government officials worldwide to their commitments in the medical field."
"I especially wanted to be involved with helping during the pandemic in Nigeria and they told me about some of the work they've been doing there. That got me really excited because it seemed like they had concrete plans. I'm still in the beginning stages of working with them and I'm looking forward to learning a lot more. I know right now they have opened a petition which will give them a lot of leverage when they approach different health officials and request that they consider the citizens, especially low-income citizens in regards to healthcare."
Olowofoyeku admits that it will be "groundbreaking and timely" if the potential second season of 'Bob Hearts Abishola' would reflect the current pandemic. She said, "I think a lot of the subject matter as we've been covering have all been pretty current and I think would be a great addition to our storyline."
She also thanked fans for being a part of making the show successful. She said, "I think fans should know that they have been part of a movement of pioneering love in terms of being the first supporters of the show. I know there was a lot of skepticism about how a story like this could be successful. We have successfully knocked those thoughts out of the field."
She continued, "I think everyone now understands that we have more in common than we don't and that love will always prevail no matter your cultural background — love, and laughter. I think they should be proud knowing that they have gathered more supporters by staying steadfast in their love for the show."