How I married Patience Ozokwor - Victor Osuagwu

As the new Lagos branch chair of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Nollywood actor, Victor Osuagwu, has one more thing to make him weary these days aside moving from one location to another. His hands are just full trying to organise the make-believe tribe in good light. He is heading an exco meeting of the association when Saturday Sun calls at the AGN, Secretariat, Surulere, Lagos.

 

“This is full of challenges,” he says at the end of the meeting, dabbing his face with hanky. Basking in the glow of his recent birthday, he beams genial smiles, looking and spotting a ritzy outfit and stylish hairstyle.
The story of Osuagwu resembles that of a destiny child, who came to Lagos as a disillusioned final year undergrad in the comely University of Port Harcourt to search for job only to find a cameo role on a platter of gold. Angling forward on his seat, he tells HENRY AKUBUIRO without airs: “I was neither born with a silver spoon nor a wooden spoon. Rather, I was born with a divine spoon.”

 

What do you mean?

God created us in His own image, and He gave everybody He created special gift and talent –and because it is said that “the talent of a man maketh way for him”, the talent of a man brings wealth for him and gives room for  favours. So, when I say I was born with a “divine spoon”, it means that I have a special talent, instilled by God after creating me, and that is the talent I’m using today for entertainment.

 

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Port Harcourt, and it was a wonderful experience. I still remember the good old days in the city when we used to play freely in the streets. We used to play football and often went for boxing training, karate and wrestling. In those days, if you were growing up in Port Harcourt, you must know everything physically as a means of self-defence. Port Harcourt is one of the liveliest cities in Nigeria. Forget what is happening in the city today, it still has that aura. It is not like the hustle and bustle of Lagos. It is only in Port Harcourt that you ask a passenger in a bus to shift a bit, and he obeys you.

 

In Lagos, once you are sitting in a bus, you will see a mechanic with his dirty clothes sit next to you, and if you ask him to shift, he will tell you to get down or hire a taxi. Everybody in Port Harcourt is conscious of himself or herself; they are proud people; proud of their culture. I didn’t just grow up there; I share blood relations with Rivers State, my mother being from Opobo. I was born there and schooled there.

 

What did you wish to become as a schoolboy?

In secondary school then, I was thinking of becoming an architect, because I attended a technical secondary school, that is, Government Technical Secondary School, Port Harcourt, and we were taught technical drawing, which translated to architectural discipline, as well as engineering. So, I was thinking of becoming an architect. But because of the roles I used to play in secondary school as an entertainer, everybody was saying I would make a good actor, having been naturally endowed as an entertainer, and, therefore, they asked me to study Theatre Arts.  After my secondary education, my father took me to the village; he said I had to learn about the culture of my people. To be honest with you, if my father were alive, I would continue to celebrate him.

 

Where are you from?

Ezinihite, Mbaise, Imo State. My stay in the village was what gave rise to the character you see me display on stage, because I was able to study people and get a feel of the tradition of the people. I saw people of different characters. As I was growing up, each time I came across any stage script and there was a character they would like me to play, I would simply draw from the village setting to interpret it well. These are characters that I have learned from my village and other villages I have visited in life, because I am somebody who likes the traditional way of life. My stay in the village has built up my creativity to strong point.

 

Did your parents support your acting career?

None of them objected to my choice of career. My mother was an entertainer. I grew up to know her as a dramatist. I had watched her perform several times in church during anniversaries or women programmes. So, when I was growing up, I was tapping many things from her. As I was growing in the industry, I was almost imitating some of her actions.

 

What was your first day on stage like? Were you overwhelmed?

My first experience was awesome, because, as a student of Theatre Arts, we were taught how to be stable on stage. Of course, I graduated from a department that produced many star actors, like Bobmanuel Odogwu, Melda of the Checkmate fame, Bimbo Manuel, among others. I didn’t have anything like camera fright or stage fright at all, because I was lectured by Sam Dede. Evil Passion II was my first job as an actor on the big stage. Truth is that I had never faced camera before, and I was being guided on stage.

 

What year?

That was in 1994 when we had the NUPENG strike that lasted several months, which made many of us leave Port Harcourt to search for what to do to keep busy.

 

So, it wasn’t acting that took you to Lagos?

No, we just came to look for job; we just followed our friend whose father had a house in Sango. His parents lived in London, so the house was left for us.

 

Were you still in the university then?

Yes, I was in my final year, so we came down to Lagos for what we call PP.

 

So, how did you get that first movie role?

We went to the National theatre, Lagos, which was a major meeting point for entertainers.

 

You mean the popular Abeigi joint at National Theatre?

Yes. There I met people like late Sam Loko and our schoolmate, Sydney Diala, and the girl who played Rita in Living in Bondage, who were already making waves in Nollywood, and they invited us for audition for the movie, Evil Passion II: Julius Agwu, Ejike Asiegbu, Francis Duru and I (we later met Hilda Dokugbo). Fortunately, all of us got roles in that movie. Obviously, fright was out of the way for me.

 

But every actor has a most embarrassing day on stage. Can you recall any?

I have never had an embarrassing day on stage.

 

What of your most memorable day?

Everyday of my life is memorable.

 

I am referring to your most memorable day as an actor, that very day you felt most fulfilled interpreting a notable role on screen…

Every role given to you as an artiste, you must see it as challenging. There is no role that you consider bigger or smaller, because all it entails is for you to interpret those roles; it is not your character; it has nothing to do with your identity; you are playing somebody’s character. So, obviously, they are all challenging. But, then, there is one particular challenging role I did, and when I read the script, I was happy to be part of it; I didn’t go for the money, but the name I was about to make out of it –that was in One Dollar. Then, I was 30-something years old, and I was meant to play a 70-something-year-old man. You could imagine at that age I was getting married to somebody like Patience Ozokwor. So, you were meant to transform your character from your youthful age to that of an elderly man the script is talking about, not just his age, but his attitude and everything. When I got that role, I asked myself, “How am I going to do this?” I worked with my makeup artiste and we suggested ways we could achieve a better interpretation of that role, so we came up with ideas, like having baldhead, wrinkles and grey hairs.

 

When I looked myself in the mirror afterwards, I was sure I wasn‘t the Victor that I know (laughs), and I played that role well. Another job I did that fascinated me was Adam Goes to School, where I was meant to play the role of a 17-year secondary school boy. So, I had to come down to the level of a teenager. I just had to go back to the life my secondary school days and bring them back to bear on the role: those days you had to fly your shirt collars, fold the sleeves of your shirt and walk with a swagger. Those were challenging roles, and I was happy to play them the way they were supposed to be. You know, when you play a role and your director is happy with you and is giving you kudos, you will know you have come a long way.

 

You are very mischievous on stage and a notorious prankster…

(laughs) Say that the character [on screen] is very mischievous, not me.

 

Do you merely interpret those roles or you improvise those rib cracking mischief?

Well, as an actor, you don’t expect your director to act for you. Your director gives you the freedom, and you are the one to interpret. Sure, you can improvise, but you must be limited to a certain length. But before the shooting you will do some trials and errors so that the director will know the kind of improvisation you are making, whether it tallies with the ideas in the script. Improvisations merely add to it; there is already an instructional material. You just need to add one or two things to make you unique; you must be able to carve a niche for yourself; you must be able to add something to the character for people to identify you with –and that’s what I have been doing in most of my plots. When you say “mischievous”, these are the kind of characters you will find anywhere in the world, either in the village or in the city. So when those roles come my way, I always go back to the village for inspiration.

 

Why are you always attracted to comical roles?

Wherever you find an interesting storyline, you just follow it. Maybe my producers find me good in interpreting comic roles, and many of the jobs that come my way come in a comedy form. But I don’t see them as comedy, because these are always serious characters. I play them and you laugh, but I am not laughing. The idea is trying to make you aware there is a man who behaves this or that way. So, I don’t see it as comic; I see them as serious characters; I use them to teach you something. Again, it is really good for you to rely on the area you have the greatest advantage.

 

You seem to have a natural flow on screen with Mr. Ibu and Osuofia…

These are great actors, and they have a powerful way of interpreting scripts. When they want to interpret scripts, they go deep down. So, any time I am working with them, I know I am working with strong actors, who don’t joke with the characters they are playing with. These are seasoned actors that when they want to interpret characters, they do it convincingly to the public. If you are working with them, you must work hard to gear up; if not, you are out of the way.

 

How do you handle stardom?

I was expecting such a question. Besides learning how to act, you are taught the advantage and disadvantage of what you are doing, and personal management is important. I went through a management course on how you can manage your personality and the public. So, it has to do with understanding who you are,  your colleagues and society. Know that they have the greatest advantage over you, and if they say “yes”, their “yes” is “yes”. If they say “no”, you are gone. So, when you are acting, you must put them into consideration, and putting them into consideration means that you are acting for them. Therefore, what I do is, to first of all, consider my relationship with my fans and the public outside there. Managing yourself is not easy, because sometimes you allow this stardom to get into your head, but I don’t see them as anything, because I still have many miles ahead of me.

 

Did you ever think you would come this far?

I predicted myself right from school. I saw myself becoming a star, because I started acting for God. I acted in the church for a long time. Even during my final year in the university, I was still travelling to my village to act for the Anglican Church anytime there was an anniversary (I am Anglican). Every time, I go back to the village to teach the youths on acting. I don’t believe I will do all these things for God without having reward from God. I knew it would only take me some time for it to come, and when it came, I knew it. I saw myself going far, and I prayed and worked for it. 5-6 years after graduation, I was still attending audition.

 

If you were not an actor, what would you have been?

Only God can tell.

 

How did you meet your wife?

I met her at Uniport (she is from Choba). She was still a young girl of 17 years. I told her straight she was going to be my wife, but she was still a young girl, and I was going to monitor her. That was all. We courted for a long time before we got married.

 

You now chair the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Lagos branch. How are you finding this administrative role?

It is full of challenges, but my immediate priority is to make sure I correct so many of the negative things about the Actors Guild of Nigeria. I try to clean of the actors before the public, because there are so many people out there who see us as the dreg of the society and irresponsible people, but, then, these irresponsible people they think we are, we are still entertaining them, make them lively when they are fatigued and stressed up.

 

They watch you and laugh and keep their stress off. But they still believe you have nothing to offer.  So, what we are trying to do is to create a level of understanding between the actors and the public, also trying to change the system and taking the AGN to the next level. My mission is to give it a new face, a new face where every member will be happy and be proud to say, “I am a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria.

 

We had so many programmes last year we were able to accomplish, such as giving a medical outreach to members of the public, creating new programmes, which were successful: our carol night, visiting some motherless babies home, having a new secretariat in Surulere. We also have the Actors Got Talent Show coming up this year, etcetera.

 

Who are your role models in the industry?

I try as much as possible to tell people that I don’t have any role model in the industry. But I love my fellow actors and seniors in the industry. However, when I was growing up, I used to watch people like Columbus, Erisonga, late Boma Erekosima, among others, and each time I watched them, I just saw myself entertaining alongside them. To God be the glory, when I gained admission to study Theatre Arts, I met Columbus live. Also, I used to, in those days, watch on NTA scripts written or produced by Komishi Ekiye, one of the most renown script writers, producers and actors in Port Harcourt, a man I also used his one his books entitled The Family for my final year project, which fetched me an A. Komishi was somebody I loved so much; I love his ideas and works and the way he talked about people. These are people I would say inspired me most.

 

What are your regrets about acting?

I don’t have any, though it doesn’t give us the freedom to do certain things. Sometimes I would like to go and patronize a Mama-put, and once people see you, they mob you. Even when you sneak to go and eat, immediately people notice you are the one, they will say, “So, you even come here?” It is as if you are a demigod, but they don’t know that you are like any other person. Anyway, I don’t blame them; this is their own perception of you. All of us lead a fake life.

 

You mean you are not among the super rich?

I am not super rich, but I am not complaining. When you talk of super rich, you must be a Dangote or an Adenuga. For me, it is not all about being super rich; God has a way of giving you that wealth, because He places you in the eye of the people where everybody wants to help you; people see you and celebrate you; people see you and you put smile on their faces. It not just making the wealth, but you are making them happy anytime they see you.