When Riyo David accepted the role of Bawa in All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White, he stepped into a project many actors had turned down. The decision would earn him international recognition and reinforce his belief that acting is most powerful when it challenges audiences and starts conversations.
Long before that breakthrough, David was drawn to storytelling as a way of understanding people. Born in Lagos and raised in Calabar, he studied Theatre Arts at the University of Calabar before further developing his craft at the EbonyLife Creative Academy and through online courses on MasterClass.
Today, his work spans film, television and theatre, but one of his earliest career milestones came with his role as Jubril in MTV Shuga Naija, the award-winning series that used drama to promote HIV awareness and sexual health.
“I realized that before MTV Shuga would knock on my door and offer me a role, I already got representation in the North,” David tells The Nollywood Reporter. “I had people who would watch my presentation. When MTV Shuga happened, I was glad because I think that drama needs to be sent into the rural areas. The only way social change can come about is by being able to get people into a place where they can experience drama and see themselves in the people who are performing as actors.”
For David, the experience reinforced his belief that acting should do more than entertain.
“It just made me believe that the path I’m on is the right one because I’m on this path for social change, to try to instruct people on how to behave and where to go and live their lives basically.”
That philosophy also shaped his relationship with theatre, where he built much of his early career.
Among his most memorable stage performances is Buntu in Athol Fugard’s Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, a play that examines institutional racism under apartheid in South Africa.
“Playing Buntu was quite inspiring,” he says.
“I love drama for social change. I love drama because it exposes the ills in society, and that’s what Sizwe Banzi Is Dead was about. Playing that role taught me what people experienced under apartheid and how deeply institutional racism affected everyday life. It reminded me that drama has the power to expose what happens behind the corridors of power.”
Despite building a successful screen career, David still considers the stage his creative home.”The great thing about live performance is it’s once and for all. There’s no take two. If you miss the line, you keep it going.”
That lesson, he says, extends beyond acting.”I love that slogan a lot, ‘the show must go on.’ That has translated even into my personal life. Something in me keeps reminding me, ‘Hey man, it’s not the end. Keep moving, keep moving.'”
The discipline of live performance is also why theatre remains his favourite medium.
“Stage challenges you because you have to be present. It teaches you to connect with the audience and gives you immediate feedback, so you know whether you’re doing something right or wrong. Stage wins it for me. I miss the stage, and I’m always open to going back.”
David’s screen career includes credits such as Walking with Shadows (2019), Mikolo (2023), Peas in a Pod (2024), and Say Who Die?! (2025).But it was his performance as Bawa in Babatunde Apalowo’s All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White (2023) that introduced him to a wider international audience.
The Teddy Award-winning film follows two men whose friendship develops into a romantic relationship in a society where same-sex relationships remain criminalised. While many actors reportedly turned down the role because of its subject matter, David saw it differently.
He says Apalowo’s account of witnessing the lynching of a university friend because of his sexual orientation helped him understand why the story needed to be told.
“The director’s experience honestly reminded me of mine, and that helped flesh the core performances,” he says. “I could get into these mental states and understand why he wants to tell this story in the manner he wants to tell it.”
Although the film received international acclaim, its reception in Nigeria has been more complicated, shaped by distribution challenges and the country’s social climate.
“The reception has been unencouraging back home,” David admits. “Films like these take a while for audiences to catch up with, and this is no exception. If people study society enough, they would realize that we always come around. You just give us time.”
Rather than dwell on the mixed reception, David chose to focus on the work itself and the conversations the film continues to inspire.
His commitment to meaningful storytelling has also been recognised beyond acting. He was awarded a British Council grant for Flashes of Life, a project that gave him the opportunity to further develop his creative practice.
That desire to create stories eventually led him into producing.
Together with his creative partner, Floyd Anekwe, David produced his first short film, A Little Mischief, shortly after graduating from university.
“It was just two boys who had just finished university and then we were bust for a life experience,” he recalls. “We didn’t have enough opportunities where we graduated from in Calabar, so we had to create one for ourselves.”
The experience gave him a broader understanding of filmmaking beyond performance.
“It led me into the world of the moving parts that happen before filming and after filming. So it was enlightening for me, and it was a lightning moment too.”
More recently, David starred in The Currency of Smoke, a short film directed by fellow actor Paul Nnadiekwe that explores the psychology of money and human ambition.
He says stories like these appeal to him because they encourage audiences to question both society and themselves.
“First off, I think that man needs to question society. Man needs to question the environment and then, lastly, man needs to question themselves.”
He worries that many people move through life without reflecting on the choices they make.
“We just live a herd mentality lifestyle. There’s a new iPhone, and everybody rushes for it. There’s a new thing, and everybody rushes towards it. People don’t stop to ask how what they consume actually makes them better.”
For David, philosophical stories serve as reminders that life extends beyond material success.
“Making philosophical pieces like that is a way to remind myself that life is deeper than physicality and also remind my audience that they should think in that direction.”
Working with Nnadiekwe, who also acts, offered another lesson.
“I encourage directors to be actors,” he says. “Paul could meet me at the level my acting needed. Sometimes you work with directors who don’t know how to communicate with actors, but that wasn’t the case with him. It also encouraged me whenever I’m ready to make that transition myself.”
David credits his training in Theatre Arts at the University of Calabar with giving him a strong foundation, not only as an actor but also as a filmmaker.
“I think my study of theatre helped me understand the nomenclature of the industry,” he says. “Sometimes I believe artists are born and artists are made. Institutions help shape the kind of artist you want to become.”
Although he entered university knowing he wanted to act, his training exposed him to directing and broadened his understanding of storytelling.
“I already knew I was going to be an actor. But studying directing helped me understand both acting and directing better. I directed one stage play as an undergraduate and another after graduation.”
When asked about the people who have influenced his career, David points to his creative partner, Floyd Anekwe, and other collaborators who have challenged and encouraged him along the way.
“They taught me to find my tribe and keep it moving, and more importantly, to believe in myself. It’s a big deal, so I’m grateful.”
He also believes there is a common misconception about what it means to be a successful working actor in Nollywood.
“The biggest misconception is that people think being a working actor means you’re on set every day for multiple projects,” he says.
For David, consistency matters more than volume, “I’m happy to take on three solid projects in a year. I can spend two months on a project, take time off, work on commercials or develop my own ideas, then come back for the next one.”
He argues that constantly moving from one production to another can eventually affect an actor’s creativity, “I think people get burnt out. You start repeating yourself, and that’s where redundancy begins.”
Looking ahead, David hopes to tell stories that challenge audiences and document lives that deserve to be remembered, “I want to tell biopic stories. I want to tell stories about revolution. I want to tell stories that actually revolutionise Nigeria.”
The legacy he hopes to leave is equally clear, “I want my legacy to be the actor who represented the underrepresented on screen. That’s what I want.”
