While it’s a love letter to a Lagos he has never actually lived in, the Gangs of London actor says his Cannes-conquering new film My Father’s Shadow has themes that will touch audiences all over the world, from Nigeria to Korea

When Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù becomes animated during conversation, his speaking voice – ordinarily a sort of polished inner-city London dialect – dances into a smooth Nigerian accent. As it happens, his shoulders ease, his eyes smile, he is totally relaxed. If it is true that we become the most distilled versions of ourselves when we are at our most comfortable, then it is clear here that the very essence of Dìrísù’s personhood is a Nigerian man.

The opportunity to nurture his Nigerian identity was a significant factor in Dìrísù’s decision to take on his latest film, the Bafta-nominated My Father’s Shadow. The entire project – on which he serves both as lead actor and executive producer – was shot on location in Lagos, the country’s former capital city, over an eight-week period in early 2024. “I’d have said yes if the script was half as good,” Dìrísù says. “When I first got it I was excited to just be working in Nigeria: it was so important for me not only to work there, but also to be in the country independently as an adult. And to get to see my grandma more than once in a year! On top of this, not a lot of actors get to tell a story as tender, beautiful and considered as this one.”