BY ‘NONYE BEN-NWANKWO
Kunle Bamtefa
Actor, Kunle Bamtefa, of Fuji House of Commotion, tells ‘Nonye Ben-Nwankwo how he started acting
You have been acting for a long time now, haven’t you felt like quitting the trade once?
When I got into this profession, I went with my eyes wide open. I had people in front of me that I was looking up to. I knew what they were going through. I am faithful to what I do. I chose to be in the profession because I love it. To me, it is not work. I am lucky, I am doing what I love and I get paid for it. It has never crossed my mind to call it quits or to do something else. Before now, people thought you could not do this and succeed. Now, the young kids are getting so much money from it (forget about the millions they tell you they make; a lot of them are not true). But at the end of the day, they are getting paid much more than we earned when we started. I am in it and I decided that I was going to swim or sink in this. God has been faithful, I don’t have cause to complain.
But would you really say acting has paid off for you?
I think it has paid off. But I don’t even see life in terms of naira and kobo. I see life in terms of how many people you have reached and the places you have been and the people you know. By the grace of God, acting has taken me far beyond where I thought I would go. Back then, we used to go for festivals all over the world. We travelled to Japan, Germany, America and so many other places to represent our country. Your country would give you diplomatic status. What else would you want? You go out there on the streets and people recognise you. The other day, I was coming back from the UK and at the airport, I had wanted to pay for the trolley and the attendant refused to collect the money. The money was so small but it meant a lot to me. Some millionaires wouldn’t get the kind of treatment I get in this country and even abroad. What a lot of people would pay through their noses for, I get them for free. People show me love. But then, people also show you hatred because some people don’t like your popularity. Some of your close friends you hang out with may not really like you. They would be saying, ‘is it only him?’ Anyway, acting has paid off.
Is it through hard work or sheer luck?
It has been both. Without luck, you cannot really do anything. I was never the best person in my class. I believe that there were more people who were better than me when I was in the university. But they didn’t have the kind of opportunity I had to blow up. In all things, we have to be thankful. I am happy doing what I’m doing. I don’t have to worry for anything. Nobody will leave this world alive. Why do you amass the wealth you cannot take with you when you die?
And how did that opportunity to blow up come?
I would say it was through luck and who you know. When you do this kind of thing, you must have some talent in you. But talent can only take you a little far; it is only the training that would push you. You have to know the technical aspect of it. You cannot work with talent alone. My inborn talent made me to be recognised quickly. I was always in place. I strove to do very well and it resulted into sharpening my skill. I had no eye for anything else but my art. I lost a few things and few friends. I even lost a girlfriend at that time.
What happened?
I couldn’t go for her 21st birthday in Ife because I was on stage. I couldn’t leave the production. We are not married today. She is very successful today anyway. She was so angry and people would always talk. They told her she was marking her birthday and her boyfriend wasn’t around. She didn’t take it out on me at that time. But boys would always be boys. I was focused on the job and we were age mates then. You know if you are getting old, you would want to do things quickly but I wasn’t ready at that time. I still wanted to pursue my arts.
Are there times you wish you were not popular?
I might say a few times when I would want to go underground and do stuffs and you wouldn’t want another person to look at you. Fame can work against you sometimes but I wouldn’t trade this for anything. It is fantastic getting known. Even the policeman knows you. It might cost you some money but it is okay. I went to buy fuel the other day and the attendant said, ‘Baba, we dey watch your films o, you have to ‘dash’ us money.’ It is okay anyway.
So your folks allowed you to study Theatre Arts back in the University of Ibadan?
Yes. The late Chief Segun Olusola lived with my father. He was my uncle. He was always on radio and TV reading the news and acting here and there. I was his favourite nephew and I loved him so much to the extent that I wanted to be like him. I felt that to be successful, I needed to do whatever my uncle did. I wanted to end up acting and being on TV. I remember when we were in secondary school, my siblings and I went to Ibadan on a holiday at Uncle Segun’s house. He was in Western Nigeria Television then. He would take us (My brother and I) out and my Aunty Elsie (Sisi Clara) would take my sisters out. My uncle took us to see his friend, Wole Soyinka. When we got into the university, I saw the beautiful place. I asked my uncle where we were. He said we were at the University of Ibadan. I told him I would love to come there. He said I could if I read my books and passed very well. We went to the theatre. Wole Soyinka was directing a production there. We sat down and we watched with rapt attention. I was so fascinated. People were ‘blowing’ big grammar. I said I would really love to do this. My uncle said I would either study Theatre Arts or Mass Communication. Mass Communication was only studied at University of Lagos and I didn’t want to be in Lagos, so I decided to read Theatre Arts in UI.
But back then, the course wasn’t so popular and not one most parents would advise their children to get into…
Of course, it wasn’t popular. I think there was some madness in me. All we saw them do – the Jimi Solankes and the rest – was to wear ‘apala’ and the trouser and be going up and down. They would just be playing drums and singing. Those were things I could do as well. I never liked anything formal even when I was much younger. I didn’t want the 9am to 5pm job. In the university, anytime my department cancelled lectures, I was always happy. I didn’t really like book work. But I suffered for it.
How?
I took elective courses in Language Arts. When lectures were cancelled in your department, it means you could not go for your elective courses. I was a confirmed 2.1 material but when my elective course result came out, it dropped my grade. But I didn’t worry. I knew I wasn’t going to be an academic. I was always at my best performing on TV or on the stage.
Did your father become proud of you when he started seeing you on TV?
He saw a bit of me on TV but I don’t think he saw me on stage. But then, he always believed I was in safe hands because of Uncle Segun.
You must have felt bad when Chief Olusola died…
He was the only father I had left. It was painful. I always ran back to him when I had issues and I needed to ask questions. But it is okay. At 61, I cannot complain. I do MC at my friends’ children’s weddings. I tell them I would rather sit at the high table with them wearing my agbada but they always beg me that they would rather need me as a mature MC. Most people confuse MC with comedians. They are not the same. You need to consider the grammar and the organisational part of it.
Do you still love stage?
There is no trained actor who would not love stage. Stage is where you go to sharpen your skill. There is no too much money here in Nigeria. You do the work on the stage and you go to TV and make the money. Before now, I tried to do stage production at least once a year. But nothing is happening again and I miss it a lot. Stage is spontaneous. Most of these people on TV cannot be on stage.
Is it by choice or design that you don’t really feature so much in Nollywood movies even as popular as you are?
I believe that self preservation leads to longevity. There are a lot of bad stuffs going around that I wouldn’t touch. But then, my needs are not too many. It hasn’t come to a point where because I was so hard up and broke, I would need to take some scripts. I know some people who do that. They take the job and when it comes out, it is rubbish and people would ask how they got themselves involved in such. I have done a few bad stuffs anyway. There are some scripts you would think would come out well but the treatment wouldn’t be right and they wouldn’t come out well. I will not do anything for doing sake. I have good friends who know my situation and help me now and again. I have friends who are not theatre people who support me. A lot of people come into production now without knowing the rudiments of production. I made one thing as a rule; I will not spoil anybody’s production. Once I sign to do a job, I will do it till the end. If you mess me up, you would not get me another time even though I would still finish the production. Then again, at my level, I don’t think I should run up and down and be doing auditions here and there. You know me. I am always there. If you think I can make a difference in your production, call me. I respect anybody even if you are a five-year-old director.
Is it bad to go for audition?
It is not. A lot of people think that at my level, if you go for an audition, you must be so broke and then they would just hand you peanuts and say, ‘was he not the person that came? Did we call him? Abeg find bros anything so we rest.’ Also, a lot of people are afraid of who will see through them. They prefer greenhorns who don’t know their left from their right so they could bamboozle them. But then, before you can bamboozle me, it might take a while. I have been around for a while. I have been a professional actor since 1974 and I am still in the job.
Your role in Fuji House of Commotion may have made some people think you are only a comedy actor, would you agree with such perception?
During the first Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award, I was nominated as the Best Actor in Comedy category. Somebody actually saw me and asked me how I felt being a comedian. I had to cut the person short and I told him I wasn’t a comedian but an actor. The thing was gaining ground that I couldn’t do anything else but comedy. The problem was I had played in Fuji House for a long time. The producer, the late Amaka Igwe, was very consistent. Amaka was the only producer that I know who paid royalties. I started with Checkmate. I believed in her dream. Some people accused me that I only worked with Amaka Igwe. But I said it wasn’t true. If you give me a job and I feel I should do it, I would do it. I was in Violated. I didn’t play a comic role in that movie. A lot of people don’t see it that way. It was the more reason I took a role in Emerald. I decided to take it. I played ‘Chief Fuji’ for a long time even in Checkmate and the spin of which was ‘Fuji House of Commotion.’ People thought that was the only thing I could do. How many people saw me on stage in all the productions I did for Yerima and Bayo Oduneye who by the way I believe is the greatest teacher ever? I didn’t want to be pigeonholed but it was happening to me. In Emerald, I am playing two roles of twin brothers.
It must be challenging?
It is challenging. Everything has to change, the make-up, clothes and everything. The voice will also change. I will see this soap through. I don’t abandon jobs like I said. I can play all other roles.
Some people say Wole Soyinka was the greatest teacher when it comes to drama…
If I have to give anybody tribute, it is Bayo Adisa Oduneye. He was my teacher and my friend. A lot of people would swear by Wole Soyinka’s name. But no offence meant, I didn’t work with him, I never had the opportunity to be taught by him. You can only swear by people who taught you. Bayo Oduneye taught me acting and directing. That is what I am doing today and I have to swear by his name. He brought ‘swagger’ into this art. He is a fantastic man. He is a fine dresser. I am grateful I passed through him.
Can you still recollect those days you used to travel overseas to perform on the stage?
Oh yes. There were festivals that Nigeria would go and perform. The late Prof Adedeji who was the first Nigerian Theatre Arts professor, put a lot of stuffs together. He ensured we represented Nigeria very well. In 1982, I had left the university; I was working as a producer/director in NTA but he wanted me to be a part of a show. I took permission from my office and I was part of the show. It was a dance drama. We went all over the world. A lot of companies sponsored at that time. The government didn’t have so much money. But anywhere we went, the ambassador was sure to meet with us and gave us an officer to be at our beck and call. It was in Philadelphia that I first saw the map of Abuja. I was a Nigerian but I never heard of it. It was fun and rewarding. We represented our country very well.
As a handsome actor, ladies must have been flocking around you a lot…
I wasn’t married then. I had this girl who was still a student who I ‘chased’ and she didn’t agree. I was the lead dancer. I had been everywhere. I remember I was at Narita Airport in Japan when I heard someone called my name and said I had a message. I was wondering how it happened because I didn’t know anybody. When I went to get the message, I received a note on a piece of paper and what was written on it was that she had agreed for us to date. That is how I wooed my wife in Nigeria and she accepted in Japan.
How?
Oh yes, she was on the show with us. We had some students with us and some of us who had passed out were part of the troupe that travelled for the show in Japan. She eventually ‘agreed’ and we took it from there. We are still together since then after two boys.
So she agreed to marry an actor?
Of course she agreed; she is one herself. She was studying Theatre Arts and I had finished at that time. What is wrong with marrying an actor? We are in the same profession but one had to go down for the sake of the children. When the kids had grown up, she had to revive her career. There are a lot of areas in theatre that don’t have to do with staying in front of the camera.
Didn’t you wish for a daughter?
I would have loved to have had my mother back. My mum passed on when we were young. I was in England. She was aged 56. She didn’t enjoy the fruit of her labour. She had cancer. I had wished for a daughter first but I am fine. My boys are okay. They are level headed. They are fantastic. I have not had cause to bail them out from the police station. They live in England. You know it is not easy to go through primary, secondary and even university education in England without joining gangs and such things. But my boys are wonderful. I am so proud of them. They never gave me any kind of problem. The first one came back to Nigeria three years ago and said he wanted to do his youth service programme. I was surprised. I asked him how he got to know about national youth service because they had left this country when they were less than 10 years old. But he insisted and I allowed him. He wanted to stay back in Nigeria but he eventually went back to England.
Would you say you had a privileged background when you were growing up?
I come from a well known and respected family. It somehow helped. We didn’t have so much money but what we didn’t have, we didn’t realise it. We knew some people had more money than us but the mantra in my family was, ‘don’t steal’, ‘don’t be greedy.’ They didn’t live pots of money for us. My parents would tell us the only legacy they would give us was education. We were comfortable. We didn’t know when our parents didn’t have money because we always had food to eat. We were always happy and it was more important. Going to school is not dependent on the money you have but because you want to go to school. I had an aunt who insisted we went to school even if we went there to learn how to sweep the floor. My mother was a teacher and we knew the value of education. We were lucky to have somebody like Chief Olusola who also pushed us through. I started work at Radio Nigeria as a studio manager. I left for the university. Even before I left for the university, I was already mingling with them at the drama department of NTA, Lagos. When I left university, it was a natural progression for me to go back there. I wrote and directed some programmes.
source: PUNCH.
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