By the time Ruby Akubueze landed on Kunle Afolayan’s Ijogbon set, she already knew she wasn’t there to blend in. “At first, I thought she was crazy,” she laughs, recalling her character’s boldness. “But I liked her because she was adventurous, my kind of girl.” The line could double as a mission statement for the 25-year-old actor, singer and filmmaker whose steady rise across film, television and music has been anything but conventional.

Akubueze has the composure of someone who has been doing this a while, but her path is still unfolding in real time. She is part of the new vanguard of Nollywood talent, actors fluent in both art and strategy, balancing global visibility with a deep sense of home. Best known for her turn as Frances in MTV Shuga Naija (2017 to 2020), she has since built a résumé that moves between prestige drama (Ijogbon), youth-driven series (Schooled), and Nigerian-Canadian indie work with international reach.

(Orah, which screened as an Industry Select at the Toronto International Film Festival). Each role adds another layer to her quiet, deliberate evolution. When she speaks, Ruby is reflective but measured. “Most of my aspirations for the year manifested earlier than I hoped,” she told BellaNaija last year. “Travelling more for work, finishing my degree, it reminded me that timing doesn’t always have to be perfect to be right.” That mix of discipline and surrender feels like the through-line of her career so far, a performer who takes her craft seriously but herself lightly. She traces her earliest performances back to her childhood in Aba, a city that still pulses through her speech and rhythm. “We were allowed to express ourselves,” she once said, remembering Saturday mornings spent singing into a broom and performing movie scenes for an imaginary audience. Her first real stage was church drama, where she learned the elasticity of emotion and how to hold a crowd.

That playfulness, she says, never left. “I love a good challenge,” she explained. “If it scares me a little, I’ll probably say yes.”

A Multihyphenate in Motion

In an era that celebrates range, Akubueze wears her versatility like second nature. She sings under the name Rúu, debuting in 2023 with the soulful single Keep Me Down, produced by Wildxyouths. Its message of resilience and self-belief in the face of doubt mirrors her own ethos. “Music has always been my passion,” she said upon release. “This song is personal to me, and I hope it resonates with people on a deep level.”

Between acting gigs, she lends her voice to community work through The Solace Network, an anti-bullying initiative, and the STAR Foundation, which offers youth scholarships and mentorship. It is a subtle but telling detail. Ruby does not treat visibility as an end goal but as leverage for stories, causes and creativity.

Discipline, Not Hype

Ask her what sustains her, and the answer is not the typical fame rhetoric. “I put myself first when it comes to mental health. I take breaks from the internet. I stay prayerful,” she says. There is a clarity to that worldview, that belies both her tender years and the circus of celebrity.

She also speaks about her craft in pragmatic terms, quoting theatre legend Konstantin Stanislavski: “There are no small roles, only small actors.”

It is a line she has internalised. “No matter how minor a role is, I put as much effort into bringing it to life as I would if it were a lead.” It is not just a philosophy; it is a working method that has carried her from supporting turns to headline-grabbing festival films.

The Shape of What’s Next

With 3 Cold Dishes earning her some of the strongest reviews of her career, Akubueze sits at that tantalising crossroads between local acclaim and global breakout. The industry has noticed. Her name now appears on “ones to watch” lists from Lagos to Toronto. Still, she remains unhurried. Quoting a line often attributed to Malcolm X, she says, “You always have to stand for something. If you don’t, you’ll fall for everything.”

It is this grounded ambition that makes her such a compelling presence both on-screen and off.

There is a sense that Ruby Akubueze is not chasing stardom. She is constructing longevity, brick by careful brick. The performances, the music, the advocacy, they all orbit one central idea: that visibility should mean something.

As the AFRIFF spotlights tilt her way, she seems ready for it. Poised, unflappable and quietly self-assured, Ruby Akubueze is less a rising star than a steadily burning one, an artist building a career with the patience of someone who knows the light will find her anyway.