When it comes to acting, Ejike Okoye is not new in the Nollywood industry. He has been in the make-believe world for thirteen years. Okoye has featured in more than 100 movies including Isakaba, Black Angels, Igodo, Cry for Help and many others.

His most recent movies are Far From Home, Onye Ichie In America, The Web, Village Boy in London, XYZA, Double Wahala, Blood Stone and so on. He has won numerous awards.

The actor revealed that his journey in the film industry could be traced to his childhood days, when “I did too many stages plays in my church as a kid during my elementary school days. When I played the role of Samuel in church, it attracted a lot of commendations. People were amazed at my performance. I believe that’s what led me into acting when I became an adult.”

Okoye whose role models are Pete Edochie, Amaechi Muonagor and Alex Usifo also expressed his views about the film industry, and said there have been improvements in recent years, adding, “Nollywood today is far better than Nollywood of yesterday in terms of product quality. I am impressed at the rate at which production quality improved.

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The Covid-19 lockdown affected a lot of people and businesses. Nollywood was not left out. I was actually working on a movie, Shadows of America produced by Obed Joe. The movie was put on hold due to the pandemic. Things are easing up a bit. Hopefully, we will soon come together and safely conclude production.” he stated.

On how he handles criticism, Okoye said he welcomes constructive criticism because it is one of the valuable tools for raising and maintaining performance standards. “In life, we can’t control what others say or do but we can control ourselves and our reactions.”

On how he unwinds, he said: “This is another important aspect of life. we should take time off from work and business to rest and relax. Most importantly, spend quality time with family. I take vacations seven to eight times every year with my family. Some are long while some are weekend getaways. I also do other things to relax like working out, swimming, taking long walks, watching movies and more.”

He encouraged aspiring actors to be humble, stay focused in life; set a goal for themselves, strive hard to achieve that goal and above all pray to God for direction to avoid making wrong choices or decisions.

Vanguard News Nigeria