Stella Damasus and Adesua Etomi Bring Yoruba Culture to Life in Iyanu Series

The Story⚡

We caught up with Stella Damasus and Adesua Etomi, two powerhouse Nigerian actresses lending their voices to the groundbreaking project, Iyanu animated series. They share how their roles draw from personal experiences and the rich Yoruba heritage, aiming to captivate global audiences with authentic African storytelling.

Interview Excerpts

Mrs Damascus, what does your voice remind you of whenever you know you are voicing your character in the series?

My voice in Iyanu, which represents mama Sewa, reminds me of my mum and my older sisters. We’re five girls, and I’m the last of the girls. Mama Sewa’s voice reminded me of the things that I had to hear everyday in order to be self-aware, in order to find one’s innate power. Putting my mum and my sisters in my head, and the females who have been around me growing up, built my voice in the character I played.

Adesua, Malaika in Comic-con was amazing and now, you are coming back to the Iyanu series, when was the first time you heard about this character, and what was your approach to voicing your character?

The first time I heard about the character was in 2023, which is about 2 years ago. When I was channeling my character, I was thinking about my African mother, who has ways of being strict but still show you love and teach you. So, that’s who i was channeling when I am channeling Olori as she was Iyanu’s guardian, mentor and teacher, who raised her up since she found her.

Back to Mrs Damascus, with regards to the superhero and the themes reflected in the show, what is different about the format of the story in terms of how it is globally placed within getting distribution across different continents in the world?

What is different for me is the fact that this is our story and it is told by us for a change because a lot of times, we expose our children to animations and cartoons, but they see other characters, cultures, and colours. This is our story, and it is authentic to us, and the world needs to see who we are as we portray to them authentically. It needs to sound like us, look like us, feel like us and the nuances here and there.

It is a story people need to see, and it will appeal not only to us as Africans, but to the world over because everyone can relate to it as it is a family-oriented thing. If you love storytelling, you would be curious about the Yoruba community, about the forefathers, about a lot of things that I didn’t even know, things that are peculiar to our people. So, it’s not just entertainment, it’s also education and it’s like a custodian of history.

Adesua, for a while now, it seems we have shied away from telling cultural stories, which is coming back a little, especially now that foreign eyes are getting interested in our cultural stories. So, how do you think we can thread this part for us to keep on getting opportunities like this?

I think that we should continue to embrace telling our stories and telling them with authenticity. I think that this is generally what people will connect to as long as it’s true and grounded in truth. I am excited to see a rise of us talking about our culture. I like to see it in film, and now in animation for the very first time. This particular project is so important because it’s told by us, but it’s and I think that’s one of the things that’s important and special about Iyanu. It’s going to appeal to everybody around the world.

I think we need to embrace this more and I think that we need to champion our own causes as well. If we want to tell our stories and we want to talk about our culture and about the things that are pertinent to our culture, we should be the ones telling the stories and find a way to collaborate with international platforms like Lion Forge Entertainment who is producing this and getting it out into the world. I believe that it will open more doors for people in Africa and in Nigeria as well, in order to get our stories across the world.

Watch full interview here:

In Summary

The Iyanu animated series, produced by Lion Forge Entertainment, premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on April 5, 2025, at 9:30 AM, and began streaming on Max on April 6, 2025. The entire first season became available on Showmax across 44 African countries on June 13, 2025. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the series is set to stream on ITVX in the summer of 2025. A second season has already been commissioned and awaits a release date.