Native Doctor Actor Clemson Agbogidi Spills What Happened Between Him and Liz Benson on Set
- Nollywood's most iconic native doctor actor Clemson Cornell Agbogidi revealed a dramatic on-set incident involving veteran actress Liz Benson
- Agbogidi described decapitating a live chicken during filming, a moment so intense that Liz Benson reportedly refused to continue on set
- The actor also addressed criticism that his roles promote native doctor culture, defending the spiritual practices of his forefathers
- An award-winning filmmaker addressed how portraying traditional spiritual practices can be perceived in movies
PAY ATTENTION: Mark Legit.ng as a preferred source, and our content will appear higher in your Google feed!
Veteran Nollywood actor Clemson Cornell Agbogidi has opened up about a tense encounter with actress Liz Benson that reportedly brought a film shoot to a halt, in a candid appearance on the Where Is The Lie podcast.
During the interview, Agbogidi recounted that he and Liz Benson were cast together in a Nollywood production.
Source: Instagram
According to him, things took an unexpected turn when he performed a particularly graphic scene on set.
"When I brought a live chicken on set and decapitated the chicken in a twinkle of an eye, separated the head from the body, Liz said she's not playing again," he revealed.
Agbogidi said the incident was enough to make the veteran actress walk off the production entirely.
The filmmakers, he added, eventually brought in a "relative doctor" to step into the role alongside him so filming could continue.
Agbogidi Defends His Native Doctor Roles
Beyond the Liz Benson story, Agbogidi also pushed back against those who argue his portrayal of native doctors and traditional spiritualists promotes harmful beliefs.
Source: Instagram
He drew a clear distinction between his real self and the characters he portrays, insisting that he simply interprets roles with full commitment.
"Abogidi is Abogidi. Then the character is that character. I've always believed that I interpret a role. If I'm doing this, I'm doing it. If you look at me, my eyes are blazing, and you can't stand me," he said.
On the wider debate about traditional religion in Nigerian culture, the actor was equally direct. He argued that pre-Christian African spiritual practices were not inherently evil and that many of those who followed them were deeply principled.
"Before Christianity, our forefathers were there. Most of them that worship died and we are not evil. Some of them were conscious of not soiling the land. There were things they cannot do," he said.
Watch Clemson Cornell Agbogidi's interview on the Where Is The Lie podcast:
How can Nollywood portray traditional spiritual practices?
Sunny Okonkwo, an award-winning filmmaker, discussed how movies can portray traditional spiritual practices.
In his words:
"This is an important conversation for African filmmakers. I believe portraying traditional spiritual practices in film can absolutely help preserve African culture, but it depends on how we tell the story.
"For decades, particularly in Nollywood, we have often reduced African spirituality to native doctors, blood rituals, human sacrifice, curses and evil. When that becomes the dominant representation, entertainment gradually becomes stereotype. Our ancestors had systems of spirituality, morality, justice, medicine, community and relationships with nature long before colonialism and Christianity arrived. That history deserves to be explored with complexity rather than automatically presented as darkness or witchcraft.
"At the same time, cultural preservation should never mean romanticising harmful practices. As filmmakers, our responsibility is not necessarily to approve or condemn everything we portray. It is to give it context. Film is powerful because generations may eventually understand their history through the stories we leave behind. The question, therefore, is not whether African traditional spirituality should appear on screen. It should.
"The bigger question is: Are we documenting our culture, interrogating it, or simply exploiting its most frightening elements because they make entertaining cinema? That distinction matters a lot. So let's just tell our stories with context."
Nigerians reminisce old Nollywood days as Liz Benson trend
Legit.ng earlier reported that Nollywood stars Zack Orji and Liz Benson were trending on social media as Nigerians reminisced about the old days.
The trend started after Orji publicly declared support for All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Tinubu.
Many claim the actor's greedy behaviour is why Liz used to poison him in many old Nollywood movies.
Source: Legit.ng
