Veteran actor Antar Laniyan, has revealed the reason many of his colleagues see him as a stern man.
According to Uncle Antar as he is fondly called, he is a disciplined man who makes sure that guides him.
Speaking with Saturday Beats, he said;
“If you are disciplined and you don’t put romance with women
first as an actor, you would go far. If you believe that as an actor,
you don’t need women all around you, then you would remain relevant
because you would concentrate on your craft. I directed ‘SuperStory’ for
about 10 years but no woman entered my room in the camp. You can ask
Wale Adenuga himself. There were amorous advances from women but I
shunned them. I am feared while on set. As a lady, you cannot see me and
have the courage to approach me with your amorous advances. People
would even tell you not to try it with me; they would advise the ladies
not to wink at me because I would just slap them. It is not that I am
wicked but I want my cast and crew members to do what is expected of
them. You don’t have to give me anything to gain what you do not
deserve. Use your talent and let me acknowledge that you are good at
your work. You don’t have to bribe me with your body.
“When I
am working, I let discipline guide me. I don’t care if you are
befriending the producer; but as a director, I want a disciplined actor
in front of me. I do not go to the location to wine and dine; instead I
go to work. When it comes to working, I am like a man that goes to the
war front with the mindset of winning the war. If I don’t face my work
squarely, it is the same people that are commending me that would
condemn me and I don’t want that. I want to be an evergreen actor. Look
at the likes of Oga Bello and Prince Jide Kosoko, they started in 1964
and they are still relevant today. At the time they started, I was just a
year old.”
How he acts in his home;
“My wife knows who I
am to the extent that if I do not romance a woman properly in a play,
she would ask me why I did not kiss her well. I have always had her
support and that has given me the guts to go to any length in a romantic
scene.
On his relationship with his sons;
“If I give you
any of my son’s phone number, he would tell you that I am his best
friend in the house. I have two boys but when I get home, we all play
like three boys in the house. My sons see me more as a friend; in fact,
when they were still toddlers, I used to call them best friends. I have
never flogged my children. I am fortunate to have good children who
listen to us. Their mother is the tough one; she is the one with the
iron hand,” Laniyan said.