You Can’t Be Normal – Sharon Ooja Reveals Struggle Playing Bipolar Character

Nollywood actress Sharon Ooja has spoken about the mental and emotional pressure she experiences when playing characters living with bipolar disorder in films.

Naija News reports that the 35-year-old actress disclosed this during an interview with Arise TV.

Ooja explained that taking on such roles can leave her mentally exhausted because she has to move between different emotional states while staying in character.

According to her, playing a person with bipolar disorder has also helped her understand the experiences of people living with mental health conditions.

The actress said the demands of the role require her to move quickly between emotions such as sadness, anger and happiness. She noted that maintaining those changes throughout a performance is not easy.

Ooja also recalled moments during filming when her director had to correct her after she unintentionally returned to her usual emotional state instead of remaining in character.

She said: “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. This gave me so much empathy for people actually dealing with mental health issues because it was draining. 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.”