Popular actor, Benson Okonkwo, speaks with CHUX OHAI about his career and unfulfilled dreams

                              Unknown to many movie fans, controversial Nollywood actor, Benson Okonkwo, started his career in the entertainment industry as a commercial model at the age of 16. And just to correct the impression that he dropped the vocation for film acting, he says he is still an active model.

I am a full time commercial model, not a runway model. I have done a lot of modelling jobs till date. I have modelled for Zain, Wema Bank, Nestle Plc, Orange Drugs and Gold Circle. My images have appeared on billboards, in TV commercials and many others,” he says, in an interview with our correspondent.
Benson would probably not be in Nollywood today and at the receiving end of ‘homophobic’ critics, if he had not listened to his mother’s advice to build a career in film acting.

“My mum actually advised me to embrace film acting. Besides, when I was still in secondary school I did a bit of acting. Being a Roman Catholic, I always acted the role of Jesus Christ during every Station of the Cross event that took place in my church on Good Friday,” he notes.

The light-skinned and soft-spoken actor, who is rumoured to be a gay, got his first role in a Nollywood movie in 2008. He played the lead role in ‘Koko Master’ and also appeared in ‘No Man’s Land’ alongside Jim Iyke and Chiwetalu Agu. But the going, he says, has not been all that smooth.

While admitting that at different times in his career he found himself acting really controversial roles, he wonders why this should be misinterpreted as evidence that he is a homosexual.

He says, “Most times, when I grant interviews to blogs, the subject is always twisted out of context. Most of those commenting on those blogs would say that I am gay. Maybe, it is because of the roles I have played in some movies.”

Some of the Nollywood movies, in which Benson has been casted for such controversial roles, include ‘The Pregnant Hawker’, ‘One Dollar’ and ‘Strippers in Love’. But they are just a few out of over 40 movies that he has appeared in.

Upset that Nigerians are still unable to draw a line between fiction and reality, he continues, “They should understand that I am only acting and the roles have nothing to do with my personality. I get embarrassed when people mistake the part I play in a movie for reality and call me a gay. And to think that I have always said that I am not gay! It really hurts.”

The actor is aware that his good looks and peculiar dress sense may have put him in ‘trouble’ with millions of movie fans. To make matters worse for him, he has been voted Sexiest Actor in Nollywood for the second time running. But he thinks the title and the fact he is a dandy dresser should not be misconstrued by the public.

In spite of the raging controversy, Benson appears determined to move on without losing focus. “I am not bothered by what people are saying about me. To be honest with you, if I felt that the comments were a big problem to me, I would have stopped granting interviews long ago. What my critics don’t know is that I have a steady girlfriend. But I won’t talk about her. I don’t like to talk about my private life,” he says.

However, for someone who says he is been such a committed Catholic, one would have expected him to have opted for priesthood. But Benson did not end up a priest because his father kicked against the idea.

The actor says he really wanted to train as a Catholic priest and he told his father about it. But the latter refused on the grounds that he wanted him to get married and produce grandchildren for him.

“I wanted to become a priest. It was my childhood ambition. I was a mass server for six years and I partook in the traditional feet washing ritual for about four years. Naturally, I would have taken the necessary step to fulfil my ambition of becoming a priest but for my father’s objection to the idea,” he says.

Not even the intervention of Benson’s mum could make his father change his mind. Eventually yielding to his mother’s advice, Benson found himself gravitating towards Nollywood.

Although he has had his fair share of criticism so far, he has no regrets for making the decision to join Nollywood. “Nollywood is cool and I am passionate about acting. I hope to make it to Hollywood some day. That shows how far I want to go as an actor. I may not be making a lot of money or getting endorsements, but I know I am going to be very successful,” he says.