Nollywood director Biodun Stephen responds to fans worried that on-screen kissing is wrecking actors’ marriages, and her answer isn’t what you’d expect.
A fan had a complaint: too much kissing in Nollywood, and it’s costing actors their marriages. Biodun Stephen, one of the industry’s busiest directors, wasn’t going to let that slide.
She picked up her phone, recorded a video, and said the quiet part out loud. Nobody gets forced to kiss on her sets. And whatever happens after the cameras stop rolling? Not her problem.
It began with a viral clip. A content creator known for calling out Nollywood urged producers to ease up on intimate scenes, arguing they were putting real marriages at risk.
Stephen saw it and decided to respond directly, rather than let the narrative sit.
“I Don’t Force Anyone”
Her first point was simple: consent already exists on her sets. Actors who aren’t comfortable kissing have said so, and she’s worked around it every time.
Some actors ask for a scene to be reshaped entirely. Others don’t mind the intimacy at all. Either way, she said, the choice has always belonged to the performer, not the director standing behind the camera.
Stephen admitted she isn’t even a fan of heavy kissing in her own films. Her taste leans toward family-friendly storytelling.
But she pushed back on the idea that every kiss is gratuitous. Acting, she argued, is about selling belief. Audiences need to feel the love on screen is real, and sometimes a subtle glance won’t do that job. A kiss might.
Whether that intensity is necessary, she said, depends entirely on the story being told.
Whose Job Is It, Really?
This is where Stephen drew her firmest line. Protecting a marriage, she said, isn’t a director’s responsibility.
Anyone who chooses acting as a career, and anyone who chooses to marry an actor, signs up for the realities that come with the job. Kissing scenes included. That understanding, she insisted, should be settled long before anyone steps on set.
Her own role, she added, is narrower: making sure every actor feels safe and respected while filming.
Don't MIss This Gist
Stephen’s response won’t end the debate about intimacy in Nollywood. But it does put the question back where she believes it belongs: with the actors and the people who love them, not the people yelling “action.”
