Veteran Nollywood Actor Kanayo O. Kanayo has stated that the industry takes so much energy to navigate, specifying that he works harder than Hollywood actor, Denzel Washington.
Kanayo who was in a podcast published on Monday on the Honest Bunch YouTube page, compared his movie roles to that of Hollywood’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, emphasising that bad roles do not make bad actors.
He emphasised that Nollywood actors like himself, put in so much work to act and produce good movies unlike what is seen today, pointing out that even Hollywood Legend, Denzel Washington could not put in as much effort as he does.
“If Denzel Washington puts in the number of hours I put in a production here, his colour will change to charcoal the next day,” Kanayo said.
He recounted that Americans from New York studied the Nollywood industry in 1992 and were amazed at the efforts and technicalities they put into production.
According to him, American Actors coined the name ‘Nollywood’ out of the seemingly ‘Nothingwood’ it was.
“They have come to understudy us. Americans from New York came to study us, they said guys, ‘we see some efforts here and there, these things take us about one month to sort, how come you achieve it in one week?’ So it was now a course of study for them, they saw the zeal we put in.”
Talking about the history of Nollywood, the actor pointed out that legends like Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD) and himself have more patience than actors in the industry because they started when everything was done manually.
He further added that these veteran actors sacrificed a lot to bring the industry to its current place.
“We built this industry with tears, sweat, and blood; some of us are lucky to still have our health in good place. We started the industry at time when there was a light called two-kay. It was so hot. If two-kay falls on you or you go too close, all your hair will run.
“We have seen 99, 100 is nothing. And we can’t now come to this age where we allow everything to go. Don’t forget I am 62 and I am not in a hurry to check out, but I want a situation where at 70, 75, 80, and 90 as God would give life, I will still be acting. So I don’t want little people who don’t know anything about the industry to dig the grave from the leg,” the actor said.
Reacting to how he has remained relevant in the industry amid ritual speculations, Kanayo clarified that he has simply put in effort to take care of his health and remain professional.
“The fact is this; I have never gone anywhere at 1 am to be more successful than anybody or more relevant than anybody.
“Maybe there’s an unseen finger or hand that has said, ‘let him continue doing what he is doing.’ I am not the best actor, even though I have won the best actor at AMAA Awards in 2006.
“But the fact is I am a professional to the core, I try to do things, I try to observe things. For instance, health-wise I have tried as much as I can on my own because I have tried as much as I can to take care of my health and obey the call of nature myself,” Kanayo said.
He further advised fellow actors to take care of their health noting that Nollywood does not have any form of insurance; he also warned against shooting a full movie in one day as it contributes to deteriorating actor’s health.
“Unfortunately, there is no insurance in the industry by which we can draw from a pool, you only earn when you are working; there is no royalty. When you are not working, then you are not earning,” Kanayo added.