What Acting Wicked Characters Did to My Life - Chiwetalu Agu
Popular Nollywood actor, Chiwetalu Agu, often acts the role of a wicked
man in movies. And his depictions are so real that many fans believe
that is his real character. In this chat with Showtime Celebrity,
he explains that the negative reaction of fans towards his wicked roles
is what actually led him into acting comic roles. Excerpts…
- You seem to have an affinity for comedies; why is that?
I wouldn’t call it affinity. Years ago, I found out that most of the
scripts that were brought to me didn’t have comic relief; I was always
given roles of a wicked man and I got to understand that most of my fans
were not pleased with it. Some of them felt it was something real, and
the consequence was that whenever I stepped out in
public, I was caught in embarrassing situations. I then decided to be
infusing comic relief even when I’m playing wicked characters because
I’m a veteran screen writer. In the early 80s, we were operating in NTA
Enugu, which was formerly Anambra Television Channel 50, so the talent
is there, and I combined it with the wicked roles they were giving me.
The result is that when you are watching me play a wicked role, you will
still have cause to laugh, and ease your tension. In fact, I have
achieved a lot by doing that.
- Can you share instances when fans reacted to you with the belief that you’re a wicked man?
They have done daring things. Some of their actions look like attacks,
but with my experience as an entertainer, I will say I saw all that
coming, so I was able to manage all of them very well.
But one day, while I was on Onitsha ‘Head Bridge’ on my way to Asaba,
there was this traffic snarl that made us come out of the car. One fan
came to hail me and slap me on the shoulder in the course of appraising
my unique style of acting. Some other persons cautioned him, and he
fired back by saying, ‘Don’t you know this man is my all-in-all? He
makes me happy; whenever I’m not happy, I just slot in his movie, and I
become happy.’ That was an embarrassing incident, but I saw it coming
because that was the period I was playing evil diabolical roles.
However, I also touch lives, because sometimes when we shoot movies,
it’s like we’re telling some people’s life story. You know, talking
about what happens in various families where wicked uncles deal with
their nephews and things like that. But like I said earlier, I thank God
that I have found a way of getting people to laugh at the same time
they watch me play wicked roles.
- Recently, a picture of you grabbing the boobs of an actress, Anita Joseph, on a movie set went viral; what really happened?
They are my daughters. It was a story, and we were playing our roles.
Maybe you didn’t have time to watch that movie to understand what was
going on. The main character in that movie was Ini Edo who was rascally,
and more of a tom-boy. If she fought with my daughters, she would
defeat them, so I did everything to prepare strong grounds for them to
overpower her, but it wasn’t possible. So I said since that failed,
let’s look for another way to prepare them to live their lives, so that
any suitor who sees them will fall in love and marry them. That way,
they will be useful since they failed in fighting a common enemy.
The scene that went viral was where I was dressing them up for a burial
ceremony that was coming up where I expected men to see them, and to
find them attractive enough to take as wives. You know women’s bust
plays a very big role in attracting any man who comes as a suitor, but
people who wanted sensation made the picture go viral to sell their
media. If I tell you now that I help some children in the motherless
baby’s home, it may not be as sensational as when they say that I raped a
minor.
- But how does your wife react to scenes like that?
If I have up to one million fans, my wife will be number one. The
greatest joy she derives is watching me act; no matter how negative the
role is, because she is the only person that knows me better than anyone
else since we live together. She knows how gentle and wonderful I am.
She also knows how philanthropic I am because I always love to help
humanity. So when she sees me in those kinds of scenes, she knows I’m
just acting. Each time I churn out a catch-phrase, byline or slogan, she
laughs so hard that even the person who is one mile away will hear the
sound. She doesn’t find anything I do in films embarrassing at all; the
reverse is the case.
- You mean she even tells you to do it better if she feels it’s not good enough?
Yes, she chips in her own advice on how to make my acting more comical.
She knows I’m a very strong comic character; comedy is in my nature, and
that is the first thing that makes her happy that I’m her husband.
There are some husbands that always have hard countenances, and their
wives fear them, but I’m not like that. As far as I’m concerned, she is
my biggest fan.
- Is any of your children taking after you?
My second son is comical in nature. At times, he goes out of his way to
wear women’s dress to make caricature out of some ideas. Then my first
son; each time I return from anywhere, he greets me with the slogan of
my last movie he watched. One of my daughters is a fashion designer, and
whenever she dresses herself up, she looks more attractive and
fashionable than any other girl of her age. The creative nature runs in
the family and I’m sure that when they all come out of school, they are
going to fit into my company because it’s going to be a conglomerate by
God’s grace, producing many titles, including comedy, tragedy, and many
others. I’m also going to be involved in distributing directly to
houses and offices.
- So you encourage them to take it serious?
Why not? Their school fees come from what I’m doing, their feeding, and
everything about their welfare comes from this. They have shown the
flair already; all I have to do is encourage them.
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