Nollywood actress Sharon Ooja has revealed the intense mental and emotional strain she experiences when portraying characters living with bipolar disorder.
In a recent interview with Arise TV, the 35-year-old star described how such roles leave her exhausted as she constantly shifts between contrasting emotional states while remaining in character.
“I think that because it was more mentally draining for me; when you’re a normal person playing a bipolar role, it’s a lot of work,” Ooja said. “This gave me so much empathy for people actually dealing with mental health issues because it was draining.”
She explained that the demands of the part require rapid transitions between sadness, anger, happiness and other feelings—sometimes within the same scene. Maintaining that intensity throughout filming is far from easy.
Ooja recalled moments on set when her director had to intervene after she accidentally slipped back into her natural emotional state. “My director would sometimes have to call me because he’s like, you’re not staying on tempo, you’re going back to normal, you can’t be normal. So, it was so draining having to be crying, laughing, angry so many emotions in one.”
Despite the challenges, the actress said the experience deepened her understanding and compassion for people who live with mental health conditions every day.