Nollywood popular actor, Chukwuwetalu 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 interview with Showtime Celebrity, he
explains that the negative reaction of fans towards his wicked roles is what
actually led him into acting comic roles.
- 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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