Bob Manuel-Udokwu remains one of the very few celebrated Nigerian actors that possess intimidating charisma on and off stage. Such natural endowments may have equally turned out to be his sterling quality, which have been fetching him attention and respect from both the common man and the highly placed in the society, including Nigeria's outgoing President, Muhammadu Buhari, who felicitated him during his recent 60th birthday. Buhari applauded his ability to cross over from Nollywood to the public office for years, proving his mettle there. His consciousness of being a celebrity may have helped him in conducting himself with respect and dignity well needed in the public sector. His choice for roles explains why he is not in bunch of productions. In this down-to-earth chat, he opened up to our Contributing Editor, IFECHI OKOH, on many issues of concern, especially those that focus on his career. Come with us!

You are considered a tight actor by informed standards. However, we notice that you don't feature in bunch of productions like most of your colleagues. Why?

It may interest you to know and note that for any film I act in, I must go through the scripts severally, taking the attendant challenges into consideration to avoid unnecessary personal hiccups during productions. I want to state here, however, that a good role for me is the one pretty challenging. Honestly!

We have watched you with delight play few bad roles so well, just as you did the good ones. What's the magic?

A bad role to me is to teach people a lesson. Same goes for the good ones. I don't really mind to play any role as a well-packaged professional. Be it positive or negative. I must confess that I don't mind how it affects my career, image and reputation. All I often think of is how the role will enhance my character, that is projecting my talent and packaging as an astute actor. You understand? Good!

What actually trips you in scripts?

Well, it depends on what it contains. For instance, in Adoration, the language (story-line) appeals to the actor in me. However, I don't mind how it would have affected my career. I saw the film and role as challenging interpretation of the role of a priest. The same, I did in the return from America where I played the part of an American returnee. I actually did my best there. Hence people who have seen it are yet to believe that anybody can do it better than me, till tomorrow.

Does acting really pay in Nigeria?

As a person vast in what obtains outside Nigeria, especially America, I believe that the actors should be better treated than what obtains currently. These are celebrities who are just role models by the virtue of what they do for survival. It is therefore highly regrettable to note that in today’s Nigeria, actors are caught in a society that believes in double standards. When I am taking about this, I mean the actors existing in a society that expects of a standard from them, not oblivious of the realities on the ground.

How does this actually affect them?

As an actor, you are a public figure. As a result, there is always a bride pride price on you anywhere you go. People, most times, believe that you are rich and so look at you just like one and even go on to relate with you on that basis. They even ask for financial help from you because of your perceived richness. If you fail to render such help at that point in time, you are simply not it. Your fans can’t understand why you failed to help them as a celebrity when you have the money with you.

Apart from such scandalous irony, does stardom have its positive sides?

Oh yes, it does. I remember so many fans acknowledging my mere presence in uncountable places I have gone. At the height of it all, they have helped me practically to jump cue or cues on some occasions. The attention I get most times as a celebrity are unquantifiable. In fact, it stretches beyond human imagination.

You must be commanding a lot of respect as a celebrity actor. How do you react to negative publicity?

I am always conscious of my social status as a celebrity. This, in itself, carries a lot of burden and sacrifice . So, I must endeavour to dress well, take good care of my family for the fear of negative publicity. This consciousness has forced me to delibrately keep my wife and children out of public matters which may attract unnecessary negative publicity, thereby embarrassing me.

How have you been distancing yourself, in real life, from the negative or notorious roles you may have been constrained to play on few occasions?

Good! I have since learnt how to distinguish myself from any role I play in films. Honestly, in trying to distinguish myself from these terrible roles, I often wonder how I played them successfully to have fetched me the accolades that accompanied them. To stamp that I have really thrilled most fans, they warn me jokingly not to play such terrible roles again. I usually tell them that this is what good acting is all about.

When did you start acting?

I actually began from my primary school days. In fact, from Primary 2, when I was drafted to act in one of the end-of-the-year concerts. It was my first acting assignment for the stage. In primary 4, I became popular and such trailed me till Primary 6. Ironically, such impact gradually vanished in my secondary school because I did not do much acting because of my serious involvement in literary and debating society. My romance with acting was ignited once more when I got admission to University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) where I did initially a one-year certificate course in Theater Arts, specialising in acting, before doing a four year degree course and also specialising in acting at the end of the day.

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