Love or loath him, leading Nollywood actor Jim Iyke has written in the sands of time his name in the establishment of Nollywood with his craft. His roles as villain or lover boy resonate at the mention of his name. With well almost two decades in the industry, Iyke has seen it all, done it all and owns his craft; and like a movie yet unscripted, Iyke’s career is like a manuscript waiting to be chaptered as captured in this exclusive interview with Ferdinand Ekechukwu
What’s up, what have you been up to lately?
Do you want to address basically acting because I’ve not been quite active. I think the last four years, I have done works sparingly, according to my schedule. I probably did about eleven films back-to-back about seven of them have been released and most of them are on Netflix. But prior to that time, I moved back to America, settled in Atlanta. I went back to raise my sons; to live a family life. I thought at this point in my life I should sacrifice something entirely and selflessly and I lost my mother at that time. So, I was in a different state, a different spirit. I didn’t come home after about three, four years. I focused on my company. I was running a logistics company there with my brother in-law. Then, I brought back my logistic company here and I went into real estate. Yes, I have been extremely busy but not in the industry per se.
This time, my first foray into production is with Bad Comments. It’s my first stint back into the industry. I’m the executive producer, and producer and lead of this film. So, it’s pretty much my baby. I brought Moses Inwang (director) on board to headline this with me. I think that’s the run of what I have been doing so well.
One would have expected a directorial instead of a production debut being that you have always been in front of the camera…
I have directed before you know. I think many years ago I can’t pinpoint the year exactly when we were banned. There was a time like that I moved to London. My aunty is a pastor; aunty Chioma. She wanted to make a movie with some other pastors. So, I grouped them together and we made two films. I directed both of these films. I co-directed one with Obi Emelonye. And the other one I directed it. It didn’t make the mainstream however. So yes I have done my directorial stint. I enjoyed it immensely. But with this project magnitude what I did was I understudied Moses Inwang all through the process. I didn’t want to put it out there.
Looking at the roles you have played in recent times, it seems you are quite selective with script?
For me, it’s not the question of numbers anymore. As you grow your ‘No’ becomes easier for you and ‘Yes’ becomes even harder. I would not be speaking to you at this point in time of my career if I said yes to everything. I have pretty much put in well almost two decades of my life in this establishment. At this point to still be doing what I love, to still be appreciated by people, to still be somewhat up there and then somewhat still you know with the old feels and bangs and intricacies involved in this industry it’s not easy. I tell you, one of the hardest places to stay relevant is in entertainment. I’m the person that paces himself. I don’t want to leave; I don’t want to go back. And then because of what I think I have written in the sands of time of this establishment, I think I have earned the right to go and come as I please… So it’s only fair that as I get older and get more established in life and I find other skill sets that I’m quite good at I explore them as much as possible.
You were part of some leading Nollywood actors at a Master Class in Abuja recently. Can you tell us about that programme?
Amazing… A good friend of mine he’s someone I look up to in the motivational circle; someone that is very deeply rooted in the transformation of mind. Linus Okere reached out to me to say ‘hey I want to invite some topnotch Nollywood practitioners come be part of a Master Class’. In that Master Class, we have people like some of the most notable motivational speakers in the world taking us through very profound classes on leadership and mentorship. I thought at this point in my life, those are the kind of classes I want to be in. And having taken a lot of these classes both home and abroad, I was so happy to be a part of that class. What I took away from it has greatly impacted the decision and choices I made thereafter.
You just mentioned leadership and talking about that, if you get the opportunity to become the president, Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) what would you like to change?
Sadly and no pun intended whatsoever, I think my sights are set way beyond that position (giggle). I admire the position or whoever wants to be there. I feel changes can be made from the corridors as long as the real effect is felt well with your visions and goals. I think there’s so much we can take into very strong cognizance. It’s a structure that is very well built. But yet it’s not been impressionably in economic (money) circles. For establishment banking and financial establishments to invest fully well into Nollywood as an entity, we need to understand the values of the ROI – of the Return on Investment, establish a structure that will not only inspire confidence for investors but would also inspire finances to be pulled in to the industry and for return to be made rapidly. We have not attained that height yet. It used to be a great thing of concern for me over the years that we are still struggling. Whatever height we think we are right now is still penance compared to the trajectory of what Nollywood represents globally in terms. This is evidently one that has contributed a great deal to our GDP. This is visibly one of the biggest economic sectors in our country. No laws have been promulgated yet to add effect to enhance capabilities economically.
Our leaders are obviously not paying enough attention. They are still carried away with oil and gas and natural resources here and there. California as a state does not have natural resources and yet is one of the biggest and economically viable cities in the world. They have a tap; it is human resources; it is gifts and talents in the heart of Hollywood. Why can’t it be so here? Why our people get so much and so deep in the sand that they don’t see the reality of things that a lot can change if more attention, more expert come on board to restructure the establishment that is Nollywood you know. These are all I think trickles and views that I would hold if hypothetically I were to become or I’m the president of AGN.
Emeka Rollas is doing as much as he can but given the circumstances and the fact, he is obviously swimming against the tide. To whom much is given much is expected. And I don’t think he has been given much for us to expect a lot from him. But sometimes you have to dig outside your circle, you have to find space outside your box, you have to do the unthinkable. Nevertheless, that is a fantastic person, a first-class leader. I just wish that more support can be given to him so that a lot more can be expected.
Let’s go a bit down memory lane. Was acting really your dream career?
No. My core competence was in Psychology and Finance. Yeah I studied Psychology, I studied Banking and Finance. And that was where I get my whole life projected to be. But you know how they say about man proposes, at the end of the day God choses your path or disposes. I remember going home to tell my father that this was my call in life. I will tell you a thing of irony. I messed up my first audition, my first set. I walked into set and I saw the big names then. I saw the Kate Henshaws, I saw the Ramsey Nouahs. I have always been myself, third generation Nollywood. So I came in, I saw the proper kings and queens of Nollywood that time. And these guys I had a walk-on role (a ‘waka pass’ in local parlance) and I messed it up! I remember (laughing)…It was just paying bill and with Ramsey Nouah that messed it up. . . I was so star struck I couldn’t perform. They still laugh at me till this day about it.
What movie was that?
I can’t even recall (laughing). I remember my sweaty palms, the discomfort of being around them and the fact that I couldn’t alter a word. But I can’t recall the film. They cursed me out. Said I was a Buffon. I was a no good. That I wasn’t made for this and they kicked me out! They were laughing at me. And I left. But you know what? I left in shame but that was the turning point. That was the switch for my financial, psychological brain to be dramatic with no training at that point. At long, yeah, this is what I want to do. Rarely do you have that call of faith, that awakening. I was sure it was what I wanted to do. I had no doubt about it, that whatever vision or whatever projections or dream my parents had for me in the financial world, that I was still going to outlive it. I finished school early I had no doubts.
I finished schooling early; by 21, I was out with my first degree. So I pretty much came back and I had this conversation with my dad. My dad has always been open to conversations. My dad is more of my friend than my father. So it really helped me when we were at loggerheads and I was asked to leave the house because I couldn’t change my mind. I couldn’t listen.
Eventually which movie made you famous?
I would say it’s ‘One Dollar’. ‘One Dollar’ was an act of faith, simply because they gave me a script, I was nobody. I was on set with the greats like Patience Ozokwor, with Larry Koldsweat, with Victor Osuagwu. In handing me the script, I remember reading the script and this is another lesson of life. I was reading with an old friend of mine then he lives in the US now. You know what that my friend told me. He said ‘stick to the script. Kill the script. And you open the doors to your career’. I read the script. The guy didn’t counsel the full essence of what Junkies act like, or what somebody that was living on drugs act like. And I wanted to play it according to how I pictured it. And he told me ‘don’t do it they will kick you out. You would never make it to set again if you come with those improvisations and those acts of will’. I now said ‘okay I agreed but that thing in me that rebellious spirit in me, that independent spirit was like ‘no. Do it the way you should do it’.
So when they said ‘action’ I went crazy on everybody! Everything you see in the entirety of that introduction and scene was not scripted. Mama G was crazy at me that I tapped her ass. Larry Koldsweat was cursing me out that I pulled his beard. The other guy was mad at me as well that I didn’t let him pick his line. And nobody knew how the madness I created and the impromptu direction that I took it to. When we were done many times the director wanted to touch it. But it so happened that the executive producer was there, he told them ‘hold on let me see where this kid is taken me to’. When I finished the director said cut it, do it again. Never bring this guy back to my set again. But the EP said ‘no this is the biggest improvisation I have seen.’ And don’t forget, Nollywood at that point, everybody was sticking to their guns. Everybody was sticking to a certain rules and ways that it is done. Nobody wanted to think outside the box. I did it totally uncared of my career.
At the end of the day, of course, the money man won the decision of the day and said leave it. They left it. But they also made a decision never to cast me in any movie anymore. They made that decision. That movie turned out the biggest selling films perhaps of all times. And I got five scripts right after then from the executive producer because the movie sold over a million CDs. They were like ‘who is this new kid. He’s totally crazy. He’s totally naught’. The diaspora embraced me. And it was crazy! They then called me one night and asked me to come somewhere. I got there and he handed me five scripts and told me welcome to stardom. I remember he said it. And if it wasn’t that act of will and that act of faith, that act of total confidence in me and my ability. If I had stuck to the script I still wonder what would have transpired from that day on. I still wonder.
But looking back at those times and now, what would you have done differently as regards some of the controversies that plagued you… your career?
Nothing… I’m not a man that allows regret in my life. I live my full circle. I have lived an amazing life. I have been rich all my life. I have had my ups and downs. When money mattered in my life it came. I was a millionaire before I was 22. By 23 I had over 2/3 million in my account from acting. I was making half a million per film as at that time. And I wasn’t too much of a social person. I wasn’t going out much. I love cars. I like houses. I like the nice house. I like to dress nicely. A lot of my money went there. But I wasn’t very ostentatious. I was putting about 4/5 of my sisters through school. I was paying a lot of school fees that’s what a lot of people didn’t know.
I forced all my sisters to go get their masters. I was pushing through a lot of things. I was listening to my dad as regards buying landed properties. You know a lot was going on. But at that point in my life I owed a lot. And what is the regret? Who schooled us on fame? Nobody. It was a trial and error thing. Remember we had no tutors, we had no prompters. It was come as you go. So there was a lot of ego tripping on that stage. We didn’t understand what was going on then. We didn’t understand the full realm of what we are involving. . . You know the total invasion of my privacy, the criticism, the fact that people didn’t know me and just criticized me most cruelly. I just didn’t know how to deal with all of that. So how can I regret that? That has been my school. This has been my transition, like my propensity to bring me to where I am. I owe it all to the experiences I have had in life. The failures I had, the successes I have had. The way to enjoy it elegantly is without putting it in anybody’s face. I have measured and attained so many milestones in my life that I didn’t bother to celebrate publicly. I have had so many failures in my life that nobody knew about because I wasn’t in that space.
Then I have had extreme experiences in my life with people of note in the world that I didn’t bother to publish. The greatest disservice I will do to myself at this point in my life is regret. I have lived the full extent of life. If there’s life that was predisposed for ten people I have lived it all. There are days I wake up and I feel that I’m twenty years old. And there are many days I woke up and I feel hundred years old. But in all there has been no regret.
Talking about age, I would like you to clarify for the records because different figures have been bandied about your age. Some sources say you are 45, some say 44. Wikipedia says 49. How old are you?
Why dispute the disparities. What’s the fun in it? The absolute truth is that the nonsense on the internet has never represented the best light or form of anybody. I love the ambiguity. I enjoy the mystery. I’ve never allowed myself go south at any point in time. I’ve looked literally same over the years. I look after myself expeditiously. My body can still do everything it did in my twenties till now. It will continue to be so well into my sixties and seventies. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I exercise religiously and diet occasionally. My weakness is that I’m a sweet tooth.
Looking at your relationship status one may conclude that you have been unlucky finding love?
(Laughs)… but you know that is putting it most succinctly. The funny thing is that I have been lucky with love. The easiest thing that stuffs me is love actually. But people may not understand what drives me. At a point, I dated the most glamorous women you know. I dated women that were out there. From Europe to Ghana to America everywhere I was fixated on the looks; I was fixated on the thought of public appeal and opinion. I was fixated on the trophy. And please no pun intended to anybody or whatsoever. This was my world. It was a competition with myself to outdo with everybody the women I wanted to see. You have to belong to certain cadre for me to see you.
But I will tell you why I have no regret in my life and why I totally disagree with you. As I got older, I think in my mid-30s, it dawned on me that these were not my kind of women. That’s why it never worked. Seriously! I’m a product of love. I come from a family of six girls, one guy. I have always been happier than myself. I have dated women, for instance, a particular relationship that always wanted to put me in the public domain….stay in the public space but it’s not my thing. I thrive in the quiet space. I like my space when it’s not exposed so one of these is the emotionally intelligent, quiet, not so beautiful women the ones that you can have a conversation with. I cannot go after women that are possessive or possess everything . . . the one I’m with right now she’s not a fashion flamboyant person.
What’s her name?
Erm I’m not willing to discuss that (general laughter). We have been together for like two years now. We have two kids. I have one from my first marriage. Three kids in all. It’s a beautiful union. It’s my quiet space.
What would you say have been your high and low moment in life?
High was being at my first son’s birth. Literally carrying Dana on top of me and urging her to push because the doctors were getting set to perform a cesarean. She was tired and giving up. She found strength somehow and pushed my amazing little guy out; then cutting the umbilical cord. The adrenaline kept me up one and half day. I would doze off momentarily and jerk up in excitement at the hospital. My lowest is when I lost my mom. I couldn’t find my feet for over two years. It broke my spirit, my will. I lost the lion in me. I had to leave the country.
