Nollywood actor Jim Iyke has explained why he deliberately dropped his bad boy image. He recently had his say during an interview with media personality Joey Akan, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, while the rebellious image that defined the early years of his career was useful at a particular point, he had to let it go when it stopped serving the purpose he wanted it to.
Reflecting on his journey through fame, controversy and personal growth, the moviestar added that the controversial persona eventually became a barrier to bigger opportunities in Nollywood.
His words, “External forces play a great part in who you become in the entertainment industry. At every point in time, something is serviceable. We can all agree the ‘bad boy’ image was serviceable then.
As you advance in corporate life and meet people who truly matter, your ‘bad boy’ persona is anathema to the way they live.
The ‘bad boy’ image served its purpose, but I had to ditch it when it is no longer serviceable to move forward in life.
Not knowing when to exit the stage is a problem a lot of us are having in entertainment. Let’s just say I knew when to exit.”
Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject to several controversies.
The origin of the term “Nollywood” remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in the New York Times, where it was used to describe Nigerian cinema.
Charles Igwe noted that Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for the New York Times. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “Nigeria” and “Hollywood”, the American major film hub.
Film-making in Nigeria is divided largely along regional, and marginally ethnic and religious lines. Thus, there are distinct film industries – each seeking to portray the concern of the particular section and ethnicity it represents. However, there is the English-language film industry which is a melting pot for filmmaking and filmmakers from most of the regional industries.
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