Henry Uche
In its bid to re-ignite the interest of television viewers, The Incubator in collaboration with Apreel Ventures would in the 2nd quarter of this year start airing the third sequel of the television drama series, Oasis:
Titled The Enemy Within, The Osagies must put aside their individual challenges to face the worst kind of opposition from one-time best ally. Starring Zack Orji, Bimbo Akintola, Lilian Amah, and Tony Umez amongs, Oasis: The Enemy Within is co-produced by Ariyike Oladipo and directed by Pat Oghre Imobhio, and marketed by Shuttabox.
In this chat, Zack Orji, who plays Mathew Osagie in the drama series, opens up on his role. He also talks about the missing link between Nollywood of yore and that of today. The veteran actor equally dwells on his humanitarian side, emphasizing the goodness in the art of giving. Enjoy it.
Can you compare Nollywood of those days with what obtains in the industry today?
I believe Nollywood is moving forward in the area of equipment. We now have sophisticated equipment compared to what we had in those days. As for picture quality, we don’t have a problem. For story lines, I don’t see script conferences any more. I don’t know how much we research on a story these days. In our days, we did corrections, alterations, and we tried to polish the scripts to get the best. But today, after talking to some young people about a job, all they tell you is how much they will charge, when they have not even read the script. It doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t know how many of the young people have the passion to do the job, even without rewards. In our days, we were ready to practice our craft free of charge. We were so passionate. It wasn’t about money; it was the fulfillment that gave us satisfaction and not the money. We had and still have wonderful actors; some have gone to school to upgrade themselves, so there’s no way one can compare the Nollywood of our days with now.
Tell us about your mentoring programme.
Yes, I mentor both within and beyond Nigeria. As part of the activities of Legends of Nollywood Awards last year, we had a master class for about 109 physically challenged people. Originally, it was designed for 30 people, but a lot of people came and we accommodated them. The master class was based on acting, film production, script writing, costume designing, make up and cinematography. It took place at the National Institute of Sports, National Stadium, Lagos. It was quite interesting.
In 2008, my colleague and I did a master class in Kenya. It was strictly for actors, and about 445 actors participated in the programme, which held in Kigali, Rwanda. I took the master class and did a short film. In 2011, under the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, I did a training programme in different fields like music and movies for the militants, we brought resource persons, who are giants in the industry. So, most of the people I have mentored have come back to employ me as their director.
We all have seeds of greatness, so locate yours, work on it and watch it grow. It’s passion that keeps us moving, if the passion is moving you and not the money then it’s your calling.
Aside acting, are you still doing the work of God?
Yes, I am still traveling from country to country to preach the word of God. I was in Switzerland recently after which I had more than five engagements in Nigeria ministering, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not a pastor of any church because that’s not my calling.
In those days, we used films to preach the gospel. Our films in those days had a central theme which is ‘sin is a reproach, righteousness exalts a nation’. After watching our movies in those days, you got blessed. People were passionate to watch our films for the sake of being transformed in the spirit and soul, but now, it’s no longer so.
You play Mathew Osagie in the TV series, The Enemy Within. Tell us about it.
The Enemy Within is about a man called Matthew Osagie, a family man with children and the head of a business group. Though, the wife is part of the business, she detaches herself somewhat. But then Matthew doesn’t take major decisions without the consent of the wife. However, Mathew has a ‘trusted’ aide, a young lady called Peace. This lady is more like a family member because of her intimate relationship with the Matthews. Matthew trusts and relies on her. One way or the other, she lays her hand on Mathew’s will and discovers that N20 million is willed to her as a reward for her loyalty. She feels bad, believing that N20 million is too small considering what she has done for the family, serving them through the years. She decides to poison the man. She poisons his tea and nobody knows she’s responsible for such evil act until she voices her grievances. But then it’s too late as the man is dead already. The drama series will start airing on TV from the second quarter of the year.
What lessons does it teach us?
One lesson it teaches us is that we must not neglect the little things people do for us. You may have people working for you, but you don’t know exactly how they feel. It always happens to the so-called big men. We must ensure we reward people accordingly. We should take care of little things; they matter a lot. We should never neglect anyone; most of these little things speak volume. Those people you neglect are the ones who spring surprises.
People must learn to appreciate what is done for them. Just a few days ago, we left a location at 9pm and at a junction I noticed that my Land Cruiser Jeep was not moving properly, it had issues with the belt. I noticed the temperature was high, so I found a place and parked the vehicle. A young man jumped down from another vehicle to help me fix the car, some people also gathered to help me. At the end, I offered them some money but they refused. I tried to persuade the young man to take the money I offered but he refused. I was shocked because a typical young Nigerian man would use such opportunity to display greed. One of the people even called me around 11pm to know if I had arrived my destination safely. I want to tell you that some people are just greedy. When Mr. Matthew died, the family saw the true colour of Peace. There is reward for every good deed. No deed goes unrewarded. It’s a spiritual thing, when you give, you must receive. You don’t need to ask God to reward you. On many occasions, I have done some things for people and walked away. And in some other ways, God rewarded me. It’s a law of nature, as you give, God will surely reward you.
What’s your advice for budding actors?
Discover your area of calling, pursue it not minding the money; keep doing it, from there you become famous. Talent is not enough. If you have talent without character, you are finished. It’s character that sustains talent.