When Tinuade Jemiseye read the script for Lady during her audition, the character of Sugar hit her with such emotional force that she broke down in tears and had to be escorted out of the room.
“From my very first read at the audition, I had an instant, profound understanding of who Sugar was,” Jemiseye recalls. “I felt her emotions so deeply that I actually broke down in tears during the audition and had to be escorted out. She was such a complex character, firm and confident in her identity, yet possessing a necessary softness.”
That connection to Sugar carried Jemiseye through the production of Lady, Olive Nwosu’s directorial debut that premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and won the Special Jury Award for Acting Ensemble. The film follows a fiercely independent female taxi driver in Lagos whose encounter with a group of sex workers, including Sugar, draws her into a sisterhood that brings both danger and joy.
For Jemiseye, who has appeared in Love in Every Word, The Ex Before Forever, and Along Came Love, Lady demanded something different. Building Sugar required more than emotional preparation. She had to completely transform her voice and physicality to embody a character who belonged to a specific corner of Lagos life.
“A major part of my preparation was linguistic; I had to learn to mirror the Benin/Warri version of Pidgin because I wanted to give her an authentic, localized voice,” she explains. “I also had to reframe my mindset to think and act like a sex worker while maintaining a fierce confidence. It was important to me that she felt raw and honest to the audience.”
Pidgin English in Nigeria varies by region, with distinct vocabularies, rhythms, and inflections. Getting Sugar’s Benin/Warri Pidgin right meant audiences would believe she belonged to that world.
“Authenticity came from leaning into the grit of the city and the specific background of the character,” Jemiseye says. “By mastering the way she spoke and adopting Sugar’s confident posture, I was able to navigate the vibrant energy of the Lagos setting as someone who truly belonged there. I focused on the idea of sisterhood as a lifeline, portraying a character who is unapologetically herself despite the danger and joy surrounding her.”
While she grew more comfortable inhabiting Sugar as filming progressed, “that initial connection to her raw and honest core stayed with me until the final shoot.”
Director Nwosu created conditions for genuine bonds between the ensemble cast. “Our director was incredibly intentional about creating a strong bond right from the audition and workshops,” Jemiseye explains. “We participated in exercises that required us to trust each other, which ultimately created a safe space for us to perform.”
The cast lived together in the same apartment while filming. “This experience allowed our connection to grow naturally off-set, which translated into the genuine sisterhood seen on screen.”
Nwosu conducted extensive research before writing the script, spending about two months engaging with sex workers in Lagos to ground the story in lived experience. She describes Lady as her “love letter to the women of Lagos,” aiming to honor lives often overlooked in cinema and create a Lagos heroine who is “flawed, luminous, and unafraid.”
For Jemiseye and her castmates, that research translated into responsibility. They weren’t just playing characters. They were representing real women whose stories are rarely told with empathy or depth. “It was important to me that stories that humanise women are being told, and I’m a part of it,” Jemiseye reflects. “Women are humans. We have complexities, right?”
The film’s empathetic portrayal of sex work marks a conscious shift away from older Nigerian tropes that framed it as a moral lesson. Here, sex work is presented through survival, the navigation of trauma, and sometimes plain choice. The approach humanises the women rather than reducing them to cautionary tales.
Jemiseye’s previous work prepared her for the technical demands of Lady. She credits roles in films like Love in Every Word, The Ex Before Forever, and Along Came Love with teaching her that every character deserves the same commitment and seriousness.
“I believe every role is a step closer to that one definitive project that changes your life, so I treat every character with the same grit and seriousness,” she says. “The popularity of Love in Every Word was a beautiful reminder that people truly appreciate the beauty of art and honest storytelling. It reinforced my commitment to giving my all to every story I tell.”
Those earlier roles provided the technical foundation she needed for Sugar. “Being on different sets has taught me that every character is special. I went into Lady with that at the forefront of my mind, which helped me make informed, specific choices from the way Sugar walked to the way she spoke, to the way she carried herself.”
Playing Sugar challenged Jemiseye in unexpected ways. Physically, she had to learn how to swim and perfect the skill in less than a week. “I didn’t have much time, but I managed to pull it off.” Emotionally, the role forced her to reach depths she would typically avoid. “She forced me to reach depths I would typically shy away from and because I truly love a good challenge, the process of bringing Sugar to life has easily made this my favorite role to date.”
When Lady premiered at Sundance on January 26, 2026, Jemiseye and her castmates couldn’t be there to celebrate in person. Visa denials kept them in Lagos, forcing them to follow the premiere and award announcements remotely. The situation reignited conversations about access, mobility, and the barriers African creatives face on the global stage.
“It was a moment of pure, overwhelming joy mixed with a touch of heartache,” Jemiseye recalls. “Knowing that our collective work and the sisterhood we built on screen was recognized on a global stage was incredible. However, because our visas were denied, we couldn’t be there in person to celebrate that win. It felt like a testament to the film’s power that the performance spoke for itself even when we couldn’t be in the room.”
The visa denials highlight a persistent structural barrier. As more Nigerian films make their way to international festivals, many of the country’s actors cannot attend physically due to restrictions on mobility. Nigerian creatives continually lose opportunities abroad because of systemic issues beyond their control.
Yet the Sundance recognition proves something important. “It validates my desire to tell stories that reflect the textures of real life,” Jemiseye says. “After facing hurdles like the Sundance visa denial, this win proves that authentic Nigerian stories have a place on the world stage regardless of the barriers placed in our way.”
As a Nigerian actor gaining international recognition, Jemiseye views the Sundance win as both personal validation and professional opportunity. “Professionally, it’s a door opening to global cinema. Personally, it validates my desire to tell stories that reflect the textures of real life.”
She navigates opportunities and challenges of breaking into global cinema while continuing to tell authentic Nigerian stories through what she calls “radical honesty.” “I no longer have space for the easy version of things or for a lack of accountability. By staying true to the messy and complicated realities of our lives, the work becomes universal and speaks to audiences everywhere in the world.”
Looking ahead, Jemiseye is drawn to roles that scare her. “I am drawn to hard roles in meaningful stories that reflect how textured and complex our reality truly is. I want to step into characters that scare me a little and force me to give a voice to realities that are often pushed to the background.”
For emerging actors hoping to perform at international film festivals or work on cross-cultural productions, her advice is straightforward. “Treat every role with grit. You never know which character will be the one that speaks to a jury halfway across the world. Don’t be afraid of the emotional depths; that is where the most beautiful art is found.”
Among her favorite behind-the-scenes moments from Lady were “the moments of genuine connection between the ensemble. Even when things were difficult, we stood by each other. That bond wasn’t just for the cameras, it was a real sisterhood strengthened by living and working together that carried us through the entire journey.”
Lady is now set for its European premiere at the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival, where it will screen in the Panorama section. The UK-Nigerian co-production is backed by the British Film Institute (BFI), Film4, and Screen Scotland, and produced by Ossian International Productions in association with Good Gate Media and Emperium Films. World sales are handled by London-based HanWay Films.
The film stars Jessica Gabriel’s Ujah in the title role, alongside Amanda Oruh as Pinky, Jemiseye as Sugar, Binta Ayo Mogaji, Seun Kuti, and Bucci Franklin. The ensemble’s work represents what the Sundance jury called “exceptional emotional honesty and collective power.”
For Jemiseye, the journey from that tearful audition to Sundance recognition validates a philosophy she’s held throughout her career: every role matters, every character deserves commitment, and authentic storytelling has the power to transcend borders even when the artistes themselves cannot.
As Lady continues its festival run and seeks distribution, Jemiseye’s performance as Sugar stands as proof that Nigerian actors can command global stages through their craft, and the courage to reach emotional depths others might avoid. The barriers remain real, the visa denials might still sting, but the work speaks for itself.
And sometimes, that has to be enough.
Lady had its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and will have its European premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2026.