Biography
Kolade Shasi (born May 3, 1986) is a Nigerian Actor and Casting Director. He cut his teeth in the professional world of acting as a teenager where he was privileged to feature in the biggest stage play in Nigeria as at the time; Obaseki, where he acted as Agbonifo (son of Obaseki, the titular role). He Started Casting in 2014, and has cast for over 20 audio-visual jobs till date, with a database of Talents stretching to the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.
Early Life Kolade Shasi was born in Manchester, UK and he was brought back at an early age to be raised in Lagos, Nigeria where he hails from. He is the last of four Children. He spent a year at St. Gregory's College before moving to FGC, Lagos where he finished his secondary school education. He studied Counselling at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria, where he graduated from in 2012.
Acting Kolade's first stint with professional acting came in 2001, when he was 15 years old. He played the role of Agbonifo Obaseki in the star-studded stage drama; Obaseki. He was privileged to learn hands-on from some of the most renowned Thespians in Nigeria, including Richard Mofe Damijo (who played his father), Stella Damasus, Segun Arinze and Norbert Young amongst many others. He literally walked right off the Obaseki stage straight into his first film production (he was cast due to his performance on stage) where he played the titular role of a young Afro in the film Afro. He went back to join the Obaseki stage tour in 2003 before going on an extended hiatus from acting due to his pursuit of a tertiary education. Hardly was he through with his youth service when he got back into the film industry, this time as a Producer/Head-writer for his own Sitcom; What Are Friends For, WAFF in 2014. Being behind the camera did not satisfy Kolade's Artistic needs, he had to get back in front of the Camera, and thus played a lead role in the third season of WAFF in 2015. Shortly after this, he went on to play cameo roles in TINSEL and Desperate Housewives Africa and then was cast as the titular lead role in Fred Atigogo's sitcom House of Badmus where he played the role of Lanre Badmus. He also featured as a Lead Actor in Ndani Tv's One Chance, He was Sub-Lead in MNET's original film; Love,Lies & Alibi, played a Cameo in the late Amaka Igwe's Infinity Hospital and played Sub-Lead in Emem Isong's Spotlight amongst others. 2015 was certainly a breakthrough year for Kolade who was relearning what acting was all about. 2015 certainly ended on a high-note for him as he played the Taxi Driver in a two-man cast, short film; Blood Taxi which got him nominated for the Best Actor at the In-short Film Festival in Nigeria in December 2015, he did not win the category but the film went on to win three awards at the Festival including Best overall film. He is presently part of the Lead Cast for the Police Procedural series; Deceit by Dipo Abdul Films. In 2017, he has featured in Muyiwa Aluko's Bandits(Cinema) and Nothing But the Truth both for ROK Studios also he has featured as a recurring character in RED TV's Inspector K Web-series as well as Inspector Akpan in Niyi Akinmolayan's Two Steps Back. Casting Director As a Casting Director, he has handled Casting for several TVCs (clients include, Stanbic IBTC, Hotelnownow, Infinix etc), a few films (including the Nigerian Box Office hit, Couple of Days. He was also Casting Associate for Eric Aghimien's second film Slow Country Afriff's Audience Best Film 2016 and AMVCA's best Actor 2017), a number of TV Series (he was Casting Associate for MNET's Head Over Heels, 2016) as well as a number of Short Films.
Other Activities Kolade Shasi teaches Acting at Royal Arts Academy and has been doing this since 2014. His classes include Psychology in Acting and Business in Acting, he has been quoted as saying "the only reason I teach is because of my need to continuously learn more as regards acting". He was First AD for Couple of Days, and Slow Country (winner, Audience Choice for Best Film, AFRIFF 2016). He has also been a Screen-writer and Story Consultant on a few jobs.
