Veteran Nollywood actor Nkem Owoh, better known as Osuofia, says his rise to fame was pure accident — he actually wanted to stay behind the scenes as a scriptwriter.
On a recent Selah Meditate podcast, Owoh told how colleagues noticed his knack for making people laugh and pushed him to appear on camera. He said he was happy writing scripts until the pressure became too much and he tried performing.
“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,” he said.
Back in the 1980s, Anambra Television (ATV) even made a seven-minute stand-up comedy show just for him after spotting his comic talent. The warm audience reaction convinced him to go all in — a choice that launched one of Nollywood’s most successful careers.
Fame, he admits, hasn’t been all glitter. He says it cost him privacy and liberty.
“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 said.
Today Owoh remains one of Nigeria’s most celebrated comic actors, known for memorable roles and helping grow the film industry.
