Nkem Owoh
Veteran comic actor Nkem Owoh popularly known as Osuofia, gave insight into how his acting career started.
While he spoke on the Selah Meditate podcast, Owoh explained that he initially worked only as a scriptwriter.
He said colleagues who noticed his comedic talent behind the scenes pressured him to perform on camera.
“My coming in front of the camera was an accident. I was a scriptwriter behind the scenes and people started telling me to start performing in front of the camera”, he said.
He recalled that a TV station once gave him a seven-minute stand-up comedy slot in the 1980s after he made crew members laugh off-camera.
Owoh said he reluctantly agreed due to persistent pressure and discovered audiences responded positively, which launched his career as an actor.
“I remember ATV created a 7-minute programme for me to do stand-up comedy in the 80s. They told me to come in front of the camera because I was making people laugh behind the camera. With much pressure, I came in front of the camera. And I saw that what I was doing people were buying it so that was how my acting career began”, he added.
On the challenges of celebrity status, Owoh said fame took away his freedom, noting that many people pursue stardom for its benefits without considering the downsides.
According to him, being famous restricted activities he once did freely and imposed limitations on his daily life.
“Fame took away my freedom. A lot of people want to be celebrities, they only know the benefits but not the downsides. When you become famous you can’t do a lot of the things you were doing freely before. You become restricted in a lot of ways,” he explained.
