‘I was forced into acting’ – Nkem Owoh

Famous Nollywood comic actor, Nkem Owoh, popularly called Osuofia, has described his adventure into acting as “an accident”.

The veteran explained that he wanted to remain a scriptwriter but his colleagues, who noticed his comedy skills behind the scenes pressurized him into acting.

Speaking in a recent episode of the Selah Meditate podcast, Owoh said, “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.

“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.”

On the downside of his career, Owoh said being famous robbed him of his freedom.

“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.