Celebrated Nollywood actor, Tony Umez, has revealed that despite venturing into the Nollywood industry for financial reasons, he wasn’t paid for the first two roles he played in when he began his career.
The actor made this known during an interview session with Ebuka Obi-Uchendu on ‘Rubbin Minds’ show hosted on Channels TV, where he spoke in details about his early days in the Nollywood industry.
Tony recounted how he left Nollywood to venture into private tutoring, while stating that he had the Hollywood earning model in mind when he started but the idea was defeated after two film projects which he was not paid for.
“Truthfully, money was what got me into Nollywood. I studied English and had my master’s in International Law & Diplomacy. When I graduated, the only employable ministry was the ministry of foreign affairs,” he said.
“But there was an embargo on employment then. I had to fall back on my first discipline, one of the course contents of which was Introduction to Drama. I had done some stage performances, so it was not a difficult decision.
“At the time, we had this pattern in Hollywood where you hear that people earned 20 million doing a movie. I saw acting as having serious potential. The acting was unserious in Nigeria then because we didn’t have a structure.
“But I had a mind of my own. Based on the Hollywood model, I felt I could do it. I didn’t think about structure.
“I played the lead in my first film and was to be paid 23,000. I wasn’t. No money. My reason for venturing into the movie scene was defeated. I did another and wasn’t paid too. I saw it wasn’t an industry I could survive in. So I left.
“For about two years, I was doing private tutoring and was making some money from that. I came back and did the movie ‘The Princess’, starring alongside Zack Orji before I hit it big time ‘Died Wretched’.”
When asked to evaluate the modern-day Nollywood, Tony said Nigeria’s movie industry has come a long way.
Tony Umez said: “I’m impressed with how far Nollywood has come but we can do better. There’s technology to make things better but talent has dipped. Then, you had to know your onions. I’m not saying there are no good actors now,” he added.
“But the passion and toil that drives you to be better are no more there. We now focus more on the business side.
“I didn’t take a break voluntarily. It just happened. Perhaps it was about the influx of more people in the industry with scripts that were focused on the younger population. However, I’ve always been working on myself,” Tony Umez stated.
