Enyinna Nwigwe: Choosing passion over certificate

Weekend Magazine: How did you make the switch from Economics to screen?Enyinna Nwigwe: It was a case of simply choosing my passion over my certificate.If acting was your passion, why didn’t you go for a degree in it?I got into school long before I discovered my love for entertainment. But then I had to finish […]

Weekend Magazine: How did you make the switch from Economics to screen?
Enyinna Nwigwe: It was a case of simply choosing my passion over my certificate.
If acting was your passion, why didn’t you go for a degree in it?
I got into school long before I discovered my love for entertainment. But then I had to finish what I had started.
How did acting start for you?
While in school modeling was my side gig. I coached runway models and organised fashion shows somewhere along the line in the course of doing that, I got on the film production of ‘Wheel of Change’ directed by Jeta Amata in Calabar.
Jeta and I had met not too long before then and he invited me to his movie set. As I got there it so happened he had an opening for an extra actor for the scene he was about to record. Needless to say, I was thrown in to fill that gap and so my movie career was born.
‘The Wheel of Change’ experience lit up my passion for acting. Also, it came at a time I was looking to take my zest for entertainment a few notches higher and by the time I was wrapping up school I decided to go with my passion over my university degree.
Could you share that first movie experience, especially as it was one unprepared for?
(Laughter) I was very nervous. I came on the movie set a spectator only to end up an actor. There wasn’t much time to take it all in. Everyone behind the camera looked like they were waiting for me to make a mess of it all, so they could have a good laugh.
How did you overcome the nervousness?
Let’s say the fear of embarrassing myself naturally taught me how to zone out…
How did you land the role for ‘Black November’?
First and foremost I’ll say God. It was rather tough, worse, because, I had a working history with the director and expected it to be smoother. But it turned out rougher for me than anyone else that was considered. When he mentioned trying me out for the role I was excited but I had to prove myself beyond any audition process I have ever been through in my career – I hate auditions by the way!
I wasn’t too surprised as I’d always known Jeta as a very thorough director who would only cast on merit and not sentiments. It started out as a supporting role and by the time it became a Hollywood collaboration my character was one of the characters the Hollywood producers thought needed to transition beyond where it originally stopped. There were so many twists and turns but God made it all work in my favour.
How easy or difficult was it for you to fit into the role?
It turned out the easiest for me for a lot of reasons. First, the excitement that came with the prospects of a new career leap. I knew I had no business messing it up. Then reading about the Niger Delta, going to the various oil spill sites, the gas flaring and all, talking to the locals and some of the militants, I naturally felt their pain, I became one of them, and lived it out on screen.
How did it feel acting with the likes of Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger?
That’s still the highest point of my career thus far. Kim Basinger is an Oscar award winner, Mickey Rourke is an Oscar nominee too, both are brilliant actors and it was an amazing experience for me playing alongside co-actors of such caliber. It is an actor’s dream really. My first scene was alone with Kim Basinger and at the point the director came to hear our dry run, on ‘Action!’ I froze. I had a total mental block, couldn’t remember one word of my line (laughter). It took his having to leave us to bond for about five minutes before commencing shoot.
I guess that was me only just realising how surreal it was to be where I was in that moment and who my co-actor was. From there on it was very smooth. I went on from there to film other scenes with other great actors and artistes I had always followed growing up like Vivica A. Fox, Persia White, Sarah Wayne Callies, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Anne Heche, Akon and Wyclef.
How did being the male lead character in the movie impact on you personally?
Coming out of Nollywood to play a role that big in ‘Black November’ made the saying ‘all things are possible to them that believe and know God’, as real as the word ‘real’ can be. It made me understand how much potentials Nollywood has at doing great things in the global movie scene.
We held our own working with way better established actors. It boosted my confidence as an actor to unimaginable heights and gave me the required exposure and experience to work on a much bigger set than we’re used to back home.
Being from the Niger Delta, how well would you say the movie ‘Black November’ has reflected the situation in the region?
The ‘Black November’ movie plot was brilliantly written to keep the audience glued while drawing them in to become part of the experience of the Niger Delta people. The writer and director Jeta Amata being equally from the region and having firsthand experience, did a good job at encompassing the sufferings and struggles of the people for the past 50 years.
What other projects are you working on?
I’ve a few film projects I’ll be working on here at home and one I will be filming in Hollywood later in the year titled ‘Awol 72’. It’s an action film produced by Cecil Chambers. I’m also sourcing funds to make my own films too.
Could you tell us about ‘Awol 72’?
Hmm… only a little. It is an action flick about an AWOL (absence without leave) marine in possession of government information, wanted and pursued by the CIA.
Who were your role models?
As a child, that would be my dad. I guess with a name like mine (Enyinna, meaning ‘father’s friend’) that would happen quite naturally. I picked up a lot of things that define me today from him. Beyond my immediate environment I’d say Nelson Mandela. That one should go without explaining. The man is an African hero and the one man that made me understand the concept of selflessness early in life.
What about growing up…who has had the most impact/influence on you?
Growing up in a very close knit family has thought me that you don’t need the whole world in your team. All you need is a few loyal and committed people to take on the world. Family first! A stable family is everything and I love mine.
Any woman in the horizon to start a family with?
Err……I’ll be right back! (laughter)
Who is Enyinna off screen?
I’m not very good at talking about myself. It’s the same way I’m not so big on watching or hearing myself on TV. Enyinna is a very random person really. But at the core is a fun loving, humanistic person, loves nature, can be a hermit sometimes too.  Off screen I just want to be normal and do what I feel like doing like every other person without being judged because I’m on TV.
I want to eat my mama-put when I crave it. I want to shop for food stuff when I feel like cooking because the fun for me starts from the shopping. Sometimes I wish I had two faces, one for the screen and the other for off screen life.
In three words, I am zestful, assertive and loyal.
If you weren’t acting, what would you be doing?
I’d be working for an international humanitarian organization. That way I’d get to travel the world – which is something I love to do – and at the same time contribute to it by helping humanity. I still believe I’ll end up doing that somehow; but first things first, build my brand then use it to affect lives.
What’s been your worst movie/set experience so far?
That would be on the set of ‘Queen Amina of Zaria’ (Sarauniya) in Zazzau kingdom. I had a near death experience riding a horse for the first time. Found out later the particular horse the local handlers (who by the way couldn’t communicate in English) handed me was unstable and had killed three people in the past month.
Who have you enjoyed working with the most?
For producers, it’s Emem Isong. I love how she’s built her brand and her style of storytelling. She was one of the very first producers to give me the required push and opportunity to get started and also responsible for the success of many Nollywood stars we enjoy watching today. With her I did ‘Games Men Play’, ‘Reloaded’, ‘Sweet Pain’ and a few other titles. Other great producers I’ve worked with are – Zik Zulu, Egor Efiok, Esther Bassey and a host of others I can’t readily remember.
For Directors – Jeta Amata (my first career influence and mentor), Lancelot Imasuen, Ikechukwu Onyeka, Osita Okoli, Ruke Amata, Fred Amata. Still looking to add other greats like Kunle Afolayan, Obi Emelonye, Mahmood Ali Balogun,Tunde Kelani, Charlse Novia. (Yes I am soliciting) I’m a fan of these directors.
Being around Nollywood and Hollywood, how would you describe your brand?
First, I am an actor and I believe that should be a universal thing. If Bollywood called today I’d answer. It’s about bringing a character to life however it is written for you to interpret as an actor.
If it needs work you put your head down and work it out. If it needs to acquire a new accent you work on that too. Having said that I am as Nollywood as Nollywood gets and know I can’t be more American than the Americans, same way they can’t be any more Nigerian/African than me. I work wherever I’m hired to and even got an agent in Hollywood looking out for me.
For now I’m on ground working at home with so much happening back here. Africa is indeed the future; can’t afford to miss out on that train.
What’s your favourite meal to prepare?
Whatever I’m craving at any point in time automatically becomes my favourite meal to prepare. But I think afang and edika-ikong soup will top that list. I’m big on local delicacies.
What’s the most unlikely request you’ve had to fulfill from a fan?
Years back I used to be on a sitcom ‘Bachelors’ which had a lot of traction at the time. Some secondary school student wrote me a short letter on Facebook about how he always got bullied in school and asked if I could attend their end of year party as his big cousin (to make him look cool), I obliged him and it worked. Thinking about it now, that was a very smart move from him. He wrote back to say he even started getting a lot of attention from the girls; his ‘street-creed’ got bumped from there on. I enjoyed playing ‘big cousin’!