The name Bolaji Badejo doesn’t ring a bell for most of us, but mention the movie Alien, its sequels Aliens and Alien 3 and its prequel, Prometheus and I’m sure there will be lots of Ahahs! and ooohoos!

But how many of us know that the alien in the original movie was played by a Nigerian? That Nigerian is Bolaji Badejo; a graphic artist who was born in Lagos in 1953 to the first Nigerian Director-General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, Victor Badejo.
How did Bolaji end up being cast as the acidic saliva-dripping xenomorph?

Bolaji was very tall. 6ft10 tall. The director, Ridley Scott, had trouble casting the role of the alien. CGI wasn’t really developed then, so someone had to wear the costume. They had tried several persons including the actor who plays the role of Chewbacca in the Star Wars franchise, not until casting director Peter Archer came across Bolaji in a bar frequented by students (he was living in the UK then and studying graphics arts). Peter Archer had him sent to meet up with Ridley Scott, who upon seeing him asked ‘‘Do you want to be in movies?’’ to which Bolaji replied ‘‘Sure.’’. And that was how the alien character was casted.

Alien went on to gross over 100 million dollars on a budget of 11 million dollars, but Bolaji didn’t reprise his role in any of the sequels. He returned to Nigeria in 1980 and started his own art gallery in 1983 after working with his uncle, Omotayo Ayegbusi; a famous sculptor and publisher.
Bolaji passed on a few days to Christmas in 1992. He succumbed to the effects of sickle cell anaemia just like one of his younger siblings, Deji Badejo. He was said to be very friendly, mentally strong, charming, and fought his way to achieve his dreams in spite of the sickle cell disease.

Notice: This work is written by Habeeb Onawole before one yeye blogger goes to paste it on his blog without giving credit.

image credit: stylenoir.com, flashbak.com, and overcope.tumblr.com.

I don't know if I shuld be intrigued or pissed

ninovandross:
I don't know if I shuld be intrigued or pissed

Why do you have to be pissed?

Decent, brief and nicely researched write-up. you and this alien matters though. Lets hope you are in line for the next alien cast.

P:S > Thanks for hooking me up with the xiaomi redmi note 3 once more!

Wow