If you feel like you’ve been seeing a lot of Kunle Remi on the big screen and on the internet lately, then you’re not wrong: The rise of the reality show winner turned-actor in the world’s second-largest film industry – Nollywood, has been meteoric since the last decade.
From the time he first appeared on our screen in 2010 as a Gulder Ultimate Search contestant and winning the survival reality show, Kunle has gone to become one of Nigeria’s most sought-after actors, and now he is assuming a new level as Nigeria’s King of TikTok.
When COVID-19 shuttered the world in 2020, the creative industry was one of the most affected. While we were all at home socially distancing and trying to figure out what to do with the new life indoors, Kunle was one of the stars entertaining us with TikTok comic videos. Since then, he has continued to create viral moments on the platform and with more than 300,000 followers and over two million likes on his posts, he has now fully transitioned into Nigeria’s King of TikTok, the social networking site that allows people to share short and smackable videos with different filters.
“I started doing TikTok videos because the world was at a standstill and I did not want to be idle. So far so good, being a ‘tiktoker’ has been an amazing experience,” he said in a recent interview.
Oyekunle Opeyemi Oluwaremi’s success story didn’t start on TikTok. In fact, it started six years before TikTok was created.
As a 22-year-old, Kunle was one of the 12 contestants who went into Omo Forest, an undulating plains of the Ogun State Forestry Plantation in Ijebu East Local Government Area, Ogun State, in 2010, to search for the Gulder Ultimate Treasure. By the time he came out of the forest in October 2010, he returned home with N7.5m and an SUV worth N10 million.
A year later, Kunle landed his first movie role in Heavy Beauty, produced by Grace Edwin Okon and directed by Stanlee Ohikhuare. From then, he became unstoppable, appearing in blockbusters after blockbusters.
Born on October 18, 1988, in Gboko, Benue State, Kunle was raised in Ibadan where he studied Fisheries and Wildlife Management at the University of Ibadan. He moved to Lagos after Gulder Ultimate Search brought him fame in 2010.
“I have been passionate about acting for a very long time right from church and school,” he said. And he found a platform that helped him realise his childhood dream – the Gulder Ultimate Search, since winning the show in 2010, Kunle has been unstoppable, moving closer to his dream and shattering glass ceilings.
In 2013, he went to the New York Film Academy, Los Angeles Campus where he honed his acting skill. He returned to New York campus in 2014 to study filmmaking and directing. He has since starred in several critically-acclaimed movies – Gold Statue, Falling, Mnet’s Tinsel.
As Demilade Doregos in Africa Magic drama series ‘Forbidden’, he exemplified the spoilt rich kid who could not figure things out himself and had to run back to either his best friend Archibald or his mother Eboh Doregos cast by Tina Mba (whom he said is one of his favourites).
He has now become the go-to star for the ‘baby boy’ role in Nollywood. He nailed the role in Sin City, Mama Drama and action flick, Hide and Seek. And has transformed beyond that into a loving and caring love partner. A class that has just a few A-list actors.
Kunle’s energy, suave and calmness in interpreting his role are contagious. He always shows that he is in charge and many younger actors draw inspiration from him.
He has been able to prove that his acting toolkit is well stocked and his acting prowess was well sharpened in New York.
With a career spanning more than 10 years, he has started his journey to the next decade of his career on the screen and we are ready to see him take on bigger challenges as he heads into the next decade.
He has also featured more prominently in TV commercials for MTN, Glo, Cowbell and a host of others. He has also collaborated with some of Nigeria’s most high-profile comedy skit makers like Mr Macaroni, Officer Woss, Broda Shaggi among many others.
These days, Kunle is pleased with how his journey turned out from winning the GUS in 2010 at 22 to becoming one of Nollywood’s most in-demand actors, and now Nigeria’s King of Tik-Tok.
“It’s been a roller-coaster, I won’t trade it for anything. I’ll do it again, and go through the whole process from then till now,” he told Television Continental in 2019. “I enjoy the growth but I’ll readily explore it.”
It is stories like Kunle’s that inspire many young Nigerians to dare all odds and audition for reality shows because of their promise of rising to stardom and guaranteed wealth that comes from brand endorsements. Anything that will draw them closer to achieving their goals.
As the new season of GUS kick-off in October, we are ready to see the new talents and stars that the show will shoot to stardom.
