Give it to the multiple award winning actor, Mike Ezuruonye. He is indeed very talented and has a knack for roles interpretation.
He has in a short while rose to be added to the A-list actors in Nollywood with over 70 movies to his credit.
In a recent interview with Sun Newspaper, the proud father of one revealed that no actor can actually take the position of another, thus no one can take his place in the Nigeria movie industry.
“I have said it many times, there is nothing like taking anybody’s position. In science, we were taught that one star in the sky is bigger than the whole earth; so it is in Nollywood, so it is in the African art. You have so much space; all you have to do is pitch your own tent.
You cannot take away those icons. You cannot take away Ramsey Nouah out of the movie industry. You cannot have Nollywood without a Ramsey, you cannot have the African movie industry without a Rita Dominic, you cannot know about Nollywood without having a Joke Silva or Olu Jacobs or an Nkem Owoh. All these people are iconic, you cannot take their place – it’s just not possible.
It is like a farmyard, just come and pitch your own tent so that people will now know that it is you, and you’re an icon for what you represent.”
The fair complexioned cute dude also went down memory lane to recall what his growing up days was like.
“I don’t like talking about that, but I want to believe that I was born by parents who could afford certain amenities. And of course, they were disciplinarians. They also taught me self-belief.
My dad always says: ‘always believe in yourself, always put your head up anywhere you are to answer your name’. And that has always driven me because even as an upcoming actor I was never scared; I respected my seniors, I respected the established stars and I always had a good thing about that.”
Before anyone could attain success in life, he or she must go through certain challenges, Mike Ezuruonye is not an exception. He tells his own story.
“The merits outweigh the demerits. The challenges are that you longer have a life; everybody wants to know you. It’s left to you to now find your inner self, your inner being, to find those who know you properly and be yourself. For me, I always don’t put the pressure of how popular I am on me. I always tell myself – that I should be a good representation for my craft, for my family, and of course because of the allegiance I owe people, I have to represent them well. I’m a regular guy and the only difference is that I’m on TV so, that doesn’t put pressure on me.
Mike Ezuruonye is a regular guy who eats the basic things you get from the everyday market. He is a regular guy who doesn’t go out too much, his best companions remain his way back friends – people who knew him when he was nothing. He is somebody who loves and always wants to tangle with the commandment of ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. I have respect for everybody. I’m somebody who builds a lot of goodwill.”
He also recalled one his embarrassing moments as super star actor.
“Funny enough, it wasn’t even in Africa. It was in the US, and the woman is from Trinidad and Tobago. As organized as the place was, she got a shirt and put it on the ground and said to me, ‘please Mike, just touch the shirt for me and I promise I’m going keep it, I’m not washing it’. That was so deep for me.”
