Veteran Nollywood actor, Chiwetalu Agu has revealed that he was offered N10 million to play a role in a movie, but he turned it down.
The movie star said the person who made him the juicy offer is billionaire businessman and telecoms mogul, Mike Adenuga.
Chiwetalu made this known during an interview with media personality, Chude where he also explained that at the time, he was yet to make N1 million but insisted on getting N20 million.
According to the legendary actor, the business magnate later compromised and gave him the N20 million he requested for, after he threatened to walk away.
Agu said; “Chief Mike Adenuga said, ‘what I have for you in this contract is N10 million.’ I have not seen N1 million before when he was pricing me N10 million but I refused. I said, ‘if it’s not N20 million, forget it.’
“He insisted, I insisted. So, I pretend to rise up and said, ‘give me money to go back to Enugu. If there’s any available flight, book it for me let me just quietly go back.’
“They regarded me to now being serious when I rose up. Chief Mike Adenuga said ‘sit down.’ He ordered them to bring documents for signing. They brought and I signed.
“From that moment uhuru dance started. I did it diplomatically in the office. I didn’t want them to know that N20m was a big deal [to me]. But it was the most wonderful thing [to me] at the moment.”
Meanwhile in another news…
Nigerian actor and reality TV star, Tayo Faniran has revealed that he usually targets lead roles in movies because he is looking for characters that will showcase his potential.
He stated this in a recent interview with Hip TV while listing the conditions that a script and filmmaker must fulfil for him to accept an acting role.
Tayo explained that there are certain things he looks out for in a script, and the most important is his role in a movie.
He said that he has what it takes to be a lead actor so he does not sell himself short by going for anything else.
The Big Brother Africa runner-up also said he dislikes stereotypes, whereby he plays a bad man or playboy in a film.
The Nollywood star said the last aspect is for him to look at the person producing the movie, the class it falls under, and if people are going to like it.
Tayo said; “First thing I look out for when I’m given a script is my positioning in the story. I think I’m a leading man. I have all it takes to be a lead actor. And apart from that, I just love to be the best in what I do. I’m looking for a character that is going to showcase my potential. And in most cases, it’s always the lead character or the supporting lead character.
“The second thing I look out for is that I don’t want to be stereotyped. I don’t like maybe every script that comes, play boy or lover boy, or bad guy or something like that. I like to look for diversity; something that will give me the leverage to show my flexibility.
“And then I look out for the people producing the film as well. The class of the film. Is it going to go out? Are people going to see it? Is it going to add something to my career? Then I consider the money. Is the money worth my time? I’m a businessman, I’ve other things to do. So, I just weigh it down. Even if it’s not about the money, it should be worth my time.”
