I stumbled into acting while looking for GCE money - Ramsey Nouah
Veteran Nollywood actor Ramsey Nouah in a recent interview disclosed his reasons for venturing into acting.
Just like the saying, when you hear the success ask the story. It wasn't all rosy for actor Ramsey Nouah. Finding himself in Nollywood wasn't a dream he had mapped out from the start but all was in a bid to survive.
Speaking with Kore Ogidan he revealed that he stumbled into acting at first to make money to pay for his GCE exam.
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See excerpts from the interview below:
Tell us about your background
I was born in Costain, Lagos, where I began my early life before moving to Aguda, Surulere. I lived with my mother and half-brother. My father was never in the picture. I was very playful and I must admit, it’s rubbing off on my kids, and I’m not liking it very much.
I was also very artistically inclined. I was fascinated by comic books and drawings, although I wasn’t exactly great at that. My elementary education was at Atara Primary School, Orile Iganmu, Lagos, and for my post-elementary education, I attended Community Grammar School, Surulere. I also got a Diploma in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos.
Interestingly, my life has been a tale of grace to grass to grace. I was born with a silver spoon but shortly after, everything changed and our wealth went to zero. This made me understand the two sides of life; living a life of plenty and a life of not even having enough to eat. As rough as the experience might have seemed, it actually helped me gain a balance in my profession as an actor; being able to comfortably switch between the roles of the prince and the pauper.
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Did you always want to be an actor?
No! Even though I knew I had a dominant creative side, I was sure I was going to become a pilot or an aeronautic engineer. I was obsessed with planes, machines and gadgets that flew and I knew I had to be involved somehow; whether by actually flying them, creating them or building them so other people could fly them.
When did you decide you wanted to become an actor?
I needed money to take my GCE external examination and I just couldn’t get it, no matter where I went. So, I remembered that my friend had told me repeatedly that I had a gift in acting but I had never taken it seriously. When I needed money desperately to pay for my exams, I decided to give it a try and source some money from it.
In 1990, I had a cameo role and in 1991, I had a role in the series, Mega Fortunes, which aired in 1993 and lasted for just a year. After that came the advent of home videos and it’s been a roller-coaster ride since then. I really just went into acting because I needed the money and not because I thought I could act. Over time, I realised that I had a strong passion for acting and thought to myself that acting could really just have been my calling.
Tell us about your first pay cheque.
We had been filming Mega Fortunes and we didn’t get paid till about the eighth month when I finally got N1,100 (about N80 per episode). As soon as I got the money, I ran to Yaba market to buy a pair of secondhand chinos trousers, leather brass belt, black tee-shirt and moccasins. That’s all I could buy with the money. I couldn’t even afford to get transportation back home; I walked from the market to Aguda, Surulere, but I was very happy with my purchase as it changed my wardrobe.
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What was your most embarrassing moment?
There was a cocktail event many years ago in the United States and I was talking to some dignitaries about business, work and other things when a lady came and whispered in my ear, “You’re so cute” while slipping her hand in my pocket. As she left, I reached for my pocket to see what she had slipped in and right in front of these dignitaries, I pulled out the panti*s that she had put in my pocket. I didn’t know what to do because I couldn’t put it back in my pocket. It didn’t belong there, and I couldn’t just hold it in my hands. It was an awkward situation but we all just laughed it off.
EXCLUSIVE: 17 Years After Their Marriage. Ramsey Nouah Has This to Say About His Wife | Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit.ng
