Showmax spotlights Bimbo Ademoye: from primary school stages to slaying the box office

Often when people say it takes a moment for your entire life to change, they never really have the most concrete proof. However, Bimbo Ademoye is a true testament to this statement. That moment was when she played a role in a primary school production at the young age of seven. The standing ovation she received from the adoring parents put her life on a path she’s now tolling and leading. 

After receiving a standing ovation from a crowd at her school’s play, Bimbo just knew she had to lead a life in front of the camera, but she didn’t rush the process. With the guidance of her father (and single parent), she completed her education, graduating with a Business Administration degree from Covenant University.

Then in 2014, Bimbo finally made her way back to the world she’s always wanted to live in – film, on the set of a short film, Where Talent Lies. The film received accolades from the Africa International Film Festival. It also opened up the door to more opportunities. Uduak Isong finally gave her her first big break as the lead character on It’s About Your Husband in 2015. 

In a 2018 Punch interview, Bimbo talked about her journey into acting and what it feels like to be discovered. She shared, “I’ve always had a passion for acting since I was a kid. It just had to be acting. I started by going for auditions. I went for every audition that I heard of and could find. Eventually, I got discovered by the amazing Uduak Isong-Oguamanam.”

Since her first significant role in a feature film in 2015, Bimbo has proven to be a multi-dimensional actress.  In April 2018, the 31-year-old played a supporting role alongside Nollywood veteran Stella Damasus, which she refers to as a motivating moment of her career. That same year, she took home her first award as an actress for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ at the Best of Nollywood awards. Bimbo also received a nomination for ‘Best Kiss in a Movie’ that year. However, she lost that to Mawuli Gavor and Odera Olivia Orji.

In 2019, Bimbo had her most significant break starring alongside Nollywood sweetheart, Adesua Etomi, and former BBNaija star Bisola Aiyeola in Sugar Rush. If people didn’t know about Bimbo, they now had zero excuses. She embodied her role as Bola Sugar, the audacious youngest sister in the Sugar clan. The movie grossed over N287 million naira at the box office. 

Unsurprisingly, she took home the 2019 City People Movie Award for Most Featured Actress in Cinema Movies that year. She also received a nomination for the Acting Prize at The Future Awards Africa.

She’s kept the momentum going and has featured in over 70 movies since she became a part of Nollywood in 2011. In 2020, Netng listed her as one of 10 actresses to watch out for; they were right. That same year, she appeared in major productions like Dear Affy, Reach, and Nneka the Pretty Serpent remake. Her stellar performance in Kayode Kasum’s Sugar Rush earned her a 2020 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Series (TV/Movie) award. She also won the 2020 Best of Nollywood Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (English) for the same role. 

More recently, she appeared in Tunde Kelani’s Ayinla, The Breaded Life, Creepy Lives Here, Living With Baami, and Atarodo. To crown a very successful few years, Bimbo picked up The Future Africa Awards prize for Acting in February 2022.

Even though Bimbo Ademoye has done so well for herself, she’s still doing more and is far from through with making a mark on Nollywood. In her own words, “I want to work hard enough to a point where I don’t have to introduce myself. My only fear is to fizzle away without making a mark.”