Actor and entrepreneur, Enyinna Nwigwe, makes his home in Lagos and Abuja. The sojourn of the lead actor in Silverain, which just got three nominations in the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), is as interesting as it is educative. He tells his story at the Lagos premiere of Silverain in this interview with Assistant Life Editor, TERH AGBEDEH.
What project are you working on right now?
I just finished one with Mildred Okwo, quite an interesting film that took me as an actor on a totally different journey. People will be shocked to see me in that light. So it is quite exciting. I can’t wait for that to come.
Before that, I just finished work with Izu Ojukwu as well.
How come you get all the big shots?
It has been a favourable year, I must say. It has been raining the big guys on me the whole time.
And Ojukwu hasn’t really done something for a long time.
Since Lions of 76, which isn’t even out; so I did two films with Obi Emelonye, one with Frank Rajah, did the one with Izu Ojukwu and Mildred Okwo, and I have a film that isn’t here officially yet, but it has been released in the United States of America. It is called Black November.
Your acting in Silverain is impressive. Where have you been all along?
Thank you very much. I have been really trying to balance my life (as an) entrepreneur and (acting) career, and gradually to build a brand; so I have not always been around. I have been around for a while, but not very consistent because I always have my hands in something else. You understand how it is.
You have got to make us understand?
(Laughter) Well, okay, it’s not usually very rosy as an actor trying to get up there. There are a lot of rejections. You are not sure where the next meal is coming from and I’m not one to stay idle. So whenever I get started with something, I have to finish before I get onto the next project as an actor. So it’s between career, passion and the reality on the ground. There is passion for the career. But realistically, it is not fulfilling.
What do you do when you are not doing the passion?
I’m a contractor. I do building construction. I do supplies. I do other things. I’m quite entrepreneurial; I try to get busy somehow and within my own control, so that I can always give time to my first love, which is acting. We have evolved to a point now where I’m proud to say I’m an actor and this is what I do.
Would the evolution take you to producing and even directing films?
I have production training and I have produced quite a number, but not my own films. But for directing, I think I will at some point. I’m beginning to get interested. I think I know the basics, but I have to go tie it up first by going to school.
How different is playing the lead in Silverain with the other films you have featured in?
Every film comes with its peculiarities. With this one, the fact that it is my first time working with a female director (Juliet Ashante) and the experience is awesome. She was like a mother nurturing us through every step. When I saw the script, it was complex. When we had our first conversation when I arrived, she wasn’t sure because when the director writes her own script, she wants everything as she thought it. So it is hard to please such people. But I was really excited that on the set, the first scene was seamless, the second was seamless and she just let me run with it. At the end of every shooting day, she would call me and say: ‘you know what; I had this in mind and you have given it to me. Now, you are bringing more and I am really excited. I can’t wait to see where you are going next’. That is all the validation an actor needs; to know that he is in sync with the director. So long as the director is happy, I’m happy.
Did you also make your co-actors happy?
Of course, we had a brilliant feedback because she, at the head, had the same strategy with us; she knew how to make us do what she wanted us to do the next day on set without making it seem like (she was) the director. You know, in conversations, there was just that synergy on and off set among us. So we always went on there and just set the camera to roll tape and play on.
You sound as if there is a big difference working with male directors, which you have done most of the time, and this female director, your first time.
There is a lot of difference. Men are a lot more, you know, the tough way, let’s do this thing. We still get the job done, but it’s the same thing everywhere with the men. So it’s something I’m very used to. The only difference is that some are really very energetic; some are quiet, but get the job done. Some know when to shout and when not to, and some just like to shout all the time. But with the woman, she is always careful on how to address things; she is quite respectful and yet very grounded. She holds it down on set.
I wonder if you have seen her act; she was in Tinsel?
I only found out when we finished. I saw a magazine cover she did in her time and I’m like, oh my goodness. That was what also got me to understand how she understood how to work with us, because a director that starts from acting understands how to manage talent because she was once there. Sometimes we can be very erratic, very insensitive and there are ways to massage our egos through every scene to get what you want. We don’t apply that much here, but she applied every bit of those skills understanding the psychology of an actor and different actors, knowing who to ask: how are you feeling today? Just that thing alone is like someone really cares.
How did you get on this project?
It was spiritual. My friend, Gideon Okeke, is an actor, and he was on set in Ghana. A week into filming, I reached out to him on BBM. Apparently, he was filming for someone else and she was ready for him. So he was like, what are you doing now? Can you come to Ghana? I was like, I just reached out to say hello, not to come to Ghana. He was like, you know what, there’s this job. Have you read the script, I asked him. He said yes, and that it’s a good script. He said he was going to get them to reach me. When I got to Ghana, I got to know that they checked me out, checked my website, my trailers and she said she was blown away and wanted me on set. The next morning, I was on a flight to Ghana. I think it was meant to happen because she has not stopped saying that everything was meant to happen the way it happened.
Some people say the Nigerian film industry is dead; that it is not as vibrant as it used to be. Do you, who are in there, agree?
That they don’t see, they don’t know. What the eyes see is different from what is happening both in our physical realm and beyond. At this point, I would like to liken the industry to the phoenix burning down to ashes and rising from them. People have seen the ashes, they haven’t seen the rise of the phoenix. That is where we are going now. Now we have more exportable films. This script was in competition at Sundance (Film Festival), which is rare to find. Our films are getting on Netflix. Now I have a film that is on every cable network in the United States; Black November is on every cable network and you can buy it from your room, on Amazon, iTunes. This is Nigeria, this is Nollywood; we didn’t go there as Hollywood. So, they don’t know this; they are still focused on the concentrated market and space here, but we are going beyond the shores and it can only get better.
We are getting more cinemas, and with more cinemas, we have competition to meet cinema quality. With that competition, we are more exportable because we can do international film festivals on that quality. So the sky is the limit and the world is beginning to look towards Africa because there is a lot of content. With the touring we had with Black November around Europe and America, it was always about the Nigerian scenes, Nigerian actors.
Is this the first premiere for Silverain you have attended?
No, Ghana.
How was the reception in Ghana?
It was awesome, amazing; it had a good run in Ghana.
