You Can’t Be Normal” — Sharon Ooja Opens Up On Struggle Playing Bipolar Character

Nollywood actress Sharon Ooja has opened up about the mental and emotional demands she experienced while portraying a character living with bipolar disorder in a film.

According to Ireporter Online, the 35-year-old actress made the revelation during an interview with Arise TV, where she discussed the challenges of immersing herself in the role.

Ooja explained that playing the character was mentally exhausting because she had to transition rapidly between different emotional states while remaining consistent with the demands of the role.

She said the experience required her to portray emotions including sadness, anger and happiness, sometimes within short periods, making it difficult to maintain the required emotional intensity throughout filming.

The actress also revealed that the role gave her a deeper understanding and empathy for people living with mental health conditions.

According to Ooja, the emotional demands of the character were so intense that her director occasionally had to remind her when she slipped back into her natural emotional state instead of remaining in character.

She explained that maintaining the required emotional “tempo” was particularly challenging because she was constantly moving between contrasting emotions.

Ooja said the experience made her appreciate the difficulties faced by people dealing with mental health conditions, noting that the role was significantly more demanding than she initially anticipated.

The actress said her director would sometimes correct her for returning to her normal emotional state during scenes, reminding her that she needed to remain fully immersed in the character.

She described the process of repeatedly moving between crying, laughing and anger as emotionally draining but ultimately valuable to her understanding of mental health struggles.

Ooja’s comments highlight the emotional demands actors can face when portraying complex mental health conditions, particularly when roles require sustained shifts in mood and behaviour.