Nollywood actor, Ramsey Nouah, in this interview with DUPE AYINLA-OLASUNKANMI, speaks on how he has been able to survive his 14-year-old marriage, despite the bad publicity associated with his career as a celebrity, and how he became an actor by accident while in search of money to write his GCE examination.
30 Days In Atlanta is like a comeback for you. What happened?
It’s not like I went off the screen. You know that I have been one of the pioneers wanting to fly the new Nollywood. You know the industry lacks structure; it’s almost like buying and selling, which it shouldn’t be. It’s like you come and act, they pay you off and there is no future for you. It ends there; there’s no pension plan, some of my colleagues were sick and when they died, we had to start begging from people to bury them. That’s too bad. That is why the new Nollywood is looking at some of these areas that can help Nollywood.
Why do you feel that being a celebrity is very expensive?
You just see us, the likes of Omotola and Genevieve, and wish to be like us. It takes money to build that image. I’m a father of four, I have school fees to pay, but I still think of clothes to wear to events, because I have to look good.
You have to keep your cool always. If I am in a club and somebody slaps me on the cheek in pretence of greeting, oh boy, I have to turn the other ear, because if I react, it will ditch my career. No corporate body wants to be associated with an actor that is involved with bad press.
Well it is a bigger cross than you can think about because you have to be concerned about your looks. You must make sure that everything is on point. Dress properly to suit every event. You have to build on your looks and image so that people will admire you. It makes you classy and a role model. Your behaviour or attitude is another selling point. If you maintain good looks and image, big multinationals will be after you.
If your track record is bad, then there’s no space for you. People look at us and want to be like us, not understanding that we wish we had a more normal or simple life style. Ramsey will dare not be seen fighting on the streets. I better turn the other cheek to be slapped a second time than retaliate. Although there are benefits; for instance, the pay is good, you get to be admired but then, it’s a cross.
I have been in a situation on a visit abroad, where somebody greeted me, and I pretended as if I was not Ramsey Nouah. She was asking if I was the actor and I said no. The next thing, she just hissed and said, ‘se na because I dey greet you sef’. That is part of what we face. But you just have to learn how to be calm at all times.
As a celebrity, who are the set of people to avoid most?
It is the press! I might just say hello to a girl and the next thing is, ‘Ramsey Nouh is toasting one girl.’ The media almost destroyed my marriage. But thank God they failed and my marriage is 14 years now blessed with four children. I told my wife to keep away from the press, let me handle them. If they don’t see you, there will be nothing to say about you. Because of that, I have stopped appearing at public functions with my family.
Which is your most challenging role as an actor?
The most challenging is Dangerous Twins. Playing that role was very challenging, because back then, we did not have the technology we have now to do all that magic. To play a part, I would pretend to be speaking to someone. But it is an empty space. And to play the other character, I would go and change my costume and do the same. Because I have to get response from my other twin, sometimes it took us two days to shoot just one scene.
What do you think the Nigeria movie industry needs presently to move ahead?
The emergence of the cinema is a breakthrough for the movie industry as banks currently see prospects in that sector and are ready to invest in it.
The grant is not enough to sustain the industry. We need structure; the structure I’m talking about predominantly is distribution. The distribution channels; if we have more cinemas in the country there will be a huge improvement. 30 days in Atlanta, for instance, showed in only 13 cinemas in Nigeria and grossed more than 160 million naira before it was pirated by our Alaba brothers.
It sold even more than Avatar, only in 13 cinemas. Imagine if it is in 20, or more cinemas, you do the math, and understand that Nollywood is a big industry that can sustain itself.
It has been the same faces in movies over the years; does it mean that producers don’t call for auditions anymore?
Auditions are publicised even on the social media. The problem is that producers want to put their money down and get it back. So, content must be sold and if they use new faces, it won’t sell. People have reckoned with these faces, and they are the ones they want to see in movies. So you can imagine a producer using faces that are not known, how he intends to sell the movie.
What then is your advice to up and coming actors?
Just believe in yourself, be passionate about your career and let nothing stop you from pressing forward.
What is the keyword to being a star actor?
Hard work and passion, and for me, the mirror has been my best teacher. It helps me learn to get into character and improve upon my job. I am concerned about how to make the industry great, so passion remains my motivator.
Tell us about your journey into the movie industry
My journey into the movie industry actually started when I was trying to sit for my GCE examination. I didn’t have money to purchase my GCE form, and there were no jobs then. It was hard to secure menial jobs and I couldn’t bring myself to do such jobs. Later, a friend of mine advised me to try my hand at acting. But I didn’t welcome the advice because I preferred to act in Hollywood. It was funny.
Later, I went for a couple of auditions and precisely in 1990, I went for a soap opera audition called Fortunes and was engaged. Later, it had problem with the title and so it was changed to Mega Fortune. I was one of the key actors in that soap and it was better than Telemundo.
After starring in that soap, I did a couple of movies that didn’t see the light of day. I was supposed to have featured in the famous Glamour Girls but the producer was too stingy. He was very professional, and actually brought a letter inviting me for audition for Glamour Girls and I played my role. He jumped from his seat and shouted yes, that’s the guy I’ve been looking for.
He invited me for negotiations and to my disappointment, he was pricing me like I was a meat in the market. It didn’t work out. I actually became a hustler working with marketers and other practitioners. I was in all the episodes in Fortunes as Jeff Akin-Thomas and was paid N100 per episode. I was paid N1,200 for only a quarter. I was in that soap just for the passion. Things were bad that I didn’t have clothes, my trousers were torn.
I actually patched my trousers by myself. Thank God my mom taught me how to sew. With the N1,200, I rushed to Yaba to purchase second hand clothes. I looked at myself after I had washed and ironed them and said, “Ramsey, you have arrived now.” I wasn’t thinking of the cash or fame, though I was in serious need. I didn’t even know the benefits of being an actor.
It took me time to be used to my fans rushing at me and appreciating me until my producers told me it was normal. As time went on, the job actually began paying my bills. With the first major money I earned, I bought a sound system, TV and later air conditioner. By 1996, filmmakers discovered that I am a better actor as a lover boy, so I was typecast as a lover boy. I played love in my life and grew tired. Whenever they brought love stories, I asked if there wasn’t any other issue they could talk about.
Later in 2003, there was a nose dive as pirates made it impossible for filmmakers to get back their money, so they began churning out films. Some of us who are more concerned about making Nollywood a brand began thinking of how to make things better. At this point, cinema came as a huge breakthrough; Bank of Industry has also been helpful unlike the banks. Today, I’m very happy about how things turned out.
