Igbo → English transcript

Nobody at all will give me anything. They are not a catchment.

He knows how to quietly take a small ten million because you will go and

be fixing yourself up. Okay, I give you ten million, I will use force to take you.

They are not a catchment. Rubbish. Loving Every Word,

one of those films, a team of... I loved the script, but... the way the film went,

that bad, it was not planned. They shot that Loving Every Word for seven days.

And I met her on the film, everybody, everyone was getting angry because...

it was not a film that any of us were proud of. When that film came out,

I started seeing what was happening in it.

Everyone was angry because it blew our minds and I feel like... what God did was,

He used that thing to just... settle most of us now that that is... that film.

That part one, I was just stunned,

it was the first time I saw that“ bam bam.”

It was just today that I met her,

I had never seen the girl before. I know them, of course,

we were in Big Brother at that time.

She was in the Big Brother house, I was in my own, you know.

Before Bam Bam, it was not Bimbo and me that anyone thought would hook up.

You know, everyone keeps asking me,“ You and Bimbo never did anything before?”

Because it is just work,

you know, we have to do what we have to do.

Look at me, as I am now, look at me, I am not like that now. Whoever they give me,

my job is to make sure that it's believable. And what I do before the film starts…

I will meet my colleague, the woman, and ask her questions. How far is too far?

What… If I do this, will you be offended?

If I touch you, will you be offended?

I will stop there, because I do not want to go beyond the bounds of decency.

You know, and I touched your body,

like the way someone is groping her or something like that. No, no, no.

So I always ask, I will ask questions. I was married too, you know, I had

married a woman. And the thing is,

in fact, it was not a topic of conversation at all. Because it was not the first,

it's not the, it was not the first film I would do with a woman. It was a woman,

you know, so, but sometimes, the one I touched was...

the one they said I had already gotten the girl pregnant, you know.

And that was when I came out and, you know,

told them that the guy was making things up.

You know, because he was peddling some very false information and a false narrative.

So, but apart from that,

it wasn't a matter of concern because it was gossip. I was worried for my colleague,

Bam Bam, you know. I was worried for her and for Teddy, actually.

But I just knew they were going to go past it. I understood,

I asked myself and thought about it, you know. Because being a creative,

I did not want them to put me in a box. Even in Hollywood, stereotyping is a thing.

But for now, it's bringing money.

Money is coming in, it is coming in…

I am making money through that particular character. And the Odogwu character,

Odogwu at least has come to stay.

A lot of brands are coming because they like the Odogwu character.

They come to me because they feel that that Odogwu character resonates with those

our brothers and relatives. You know, so, I'm going to fight it.

With time, you know,

people will begin to understand more that I'm just an actor.

And with whatever character I am given,

I will do my best, you know, to make it a really good film.

Make the character turn out really well.

There was a time I was talking with them, one zombie film they made in Nigeria,

but it didn't really take off. And so I talked to my people, I said, okay,

let's try to make a film...

that is different from everything everyone is doing and watching.

You know, and that was how the zombie film came about. The film did very well.

For a genre that just started and has made over 70 million, I think we have tried.

And I know that what we made now might not be a hundred percent.

Comparing it to some of the international zombie films that white people make.

You know, but what I want to tell Nigerians is... pre- production for the

sequel will start very soon.

They should rest assured that we will do well,

we will make a very good film like this first one we made. In a sane environment,

you wouldn't really need to spend money to promote the film. Especially for

the actors in the film or the producers. But what happens in our market is

very different. And there's nothing wrong with that. Nigerians are getting into skit

making and content creation.

And as long as you can get them to laugh and engage with the skit...

and the content you create around that film.

I think that is where the dancing comes in, not that it's all just dancing.

You will dance, you know, you will dance, you will finish dancing,

hype the dance, hype the dance. You hype the dance, sometimes people will show up.

That is where the market is now. And it's just,

you either beat them or join them, that's how it is.