Nigerian Movie Star Profile
Clem Ohameze
It was so brazen of star actor Clem Ohameze who has featured in most
of the Nigeria movies to admit he is a fine man and appreciated by women.
But he does not see this virtue loudly flaunted by him as an excuse to sleep
with his fans. “ I am a fine man with or without acting, I get appreciated
by women but first and fore- most I respect my marriage, and I don’t sleep
with my fans”, he said.
Fans
Although he is handsome, tall and with a pointed nose, the Nollywood actor
says to anybody who is willing to listen that he respects his marriage so
well and will not lay down his reputation and mess around with other women,
no matter how much they woo or appreciate his looks. Ohameze is conservative
and says he does not like being called a star, although admitting that movie
watchers like to see his face and most times buy films because he featured.
“Everybody is a star and it depends on the way you look at it, it’ s only
natural that you get attracted to the opposite sex”. Giving a peep into his
world of admirations to the opposite sex, he informed that most of his fans
are women. “If I am not exaggerating, about 92 per cent of my fans are women
and I still believe that it is only natural that you get attracted to the
opposite sex. But that notwithstanding, I respect my marriage, I don’t
engage in any inordinate relationship with them because that will make me
cheap”. To drive home his reservation about such relationships, Ohameze
insists “ it can debase a man. Although I really appreciate girls,
appreciation should not go skin-deep. One should not capitalise on the fact
that many people call you a superstar and then take that as an advantage on
people”.
Not just acting
The Nollywood actor with diploma in Mass Communication, and a degree in
Sociology from the University of Port-Harcourt said before he joined the
movie industry in 1996 that he was a businessman. “Outside acting, I still
do other businesses. I was a contractor before I went into the industry, my
entry into acting was through happenstance because it was a friend who
introduced me to the movie industry. ‘The friend was a schoolmate of mine,
and he believed I would do better in the industry. So when he was going to
direct and produce for Hint Magazine, he invited me for audition which I
attended and surprisingly, I took the lead role, it was blissful and God has
been very wonderful.” He added that although he was nervous his first time,
especially working with big stars in the industry as time went on he was
able to overcome.
Embarrassing moment
Speaking with Saturday Sun, the Imo State-born actor who calls his fans
attitude towards him as something a little away from outright embarrassment
caused by excessive excitement said “ the way they behave towards me is out
of much excitement, in the sense that most times they don’t know how to
contain their feelings when they see you. They act like people forced to do
one stupid thing or the other, but if you understand them, you will know the
reason. That understanding I have developed over time makes me understand
that they are not actually out to embarrass”.
Immuned to criticism
“Every role is challenging and no story is small because I give myself into
every movie, and I believe that I‘ve created a standard which people look up
to”. To underscore his resolve to always strive higher, he has also
concluded that criticisms would never take him aback. “Instead of allowing
critics to have the better of me, especially those that don’t actually point
out the errors to correct or build but to bring down, I would rather take
seriously every movie I take part in. “Because of my liberal approach to my
roles in all acts, I cannot pinpoint particularly a film that has been more
challenging than others. But talking about stress, some movies are more
stressful than others. There are stories where you relax and take your
lines, but there are some you go to the field and into the bush like Price
of Sacrifices, which left me all soured but when the film came out it was
worth the trouble, no pain no gain”.
Playing real
You might not guess accurately why Ohameze seems to emerge the best and most
natural in his roles until you listen to him say “I always come out with the
best because I imagine my self to be the real person in that character. “I
don’t follow what is in the script most times. What I do is to go through
the story and imagine if I found myself in that situation, what I would do.
By putting myself as the real person in that character I get natural in
movies and it has really helped me to interpret my roles”.
I can act nude
Talking about romance in films, Ohameze said he could go any length just to
do his job, “ once the script says so. I have no limits, it’s my career
after all, I will act nude if the need be, it does not actually matter,
especially with a wife who understands my career. I am fortunate to be
married to a very exposed and educated woman. She has been abroad for almost
18 years, and knows what my kind of job entails. She knows my career is a
make-believe, and so my wife understands, knowing full well that everything
ends where it starts”.
Happiest moment
Ohameze who is married and has a child, recalled that his happiest moment
was when his wife was delivered of his daughter. “She was on her way to
London to have our baby when her water broke in the air. That was ten
minutes to her arrival in London, so she was rushed from the plane to the
hospital. When I got the call, I prayed that everything should be alright,
and fortunately, at the second call was the great news that she had been
delivered of my daughter”.
No sexual harassment here
Those that allege sexual harassment in the movie industry are liars, so says
Ohameze. He challenges them that “ the best way to prove the allegation is
for one of them to identify herself a victim. We have been waiting for the
opportunity when a person will come out to tell us that she has been
harassed and who harassed her. But all we hear everyday is that I can’t go
into the film industry because there is so much sexual harassment. Apart
from these unsubstantiated claims, we all know nobody can force you to sleep
with you, otherwise it will be rape and it is criminal. You can only sleep
with a man you want to. All I know is that these things are rumours. I
remember sometime in the past when a rumour hit the streets that Nkiru
Syvanus was dead, Nkem Owoh, dead and Clem Ohameze, dead. That rumour
started somewhere. So anybody that is sexually harassed should come out and
say it, because I have not heard that any artiste or director was arrested
for rape and subsequently prosecuted and jailed when found guilty”.
Tel:571-247-2679 email:contact@nigeriamovies.net
