Nollywood actor Chidi Mokeme revealed in an interview that his father opposed his decision to pursue a career as an actor.
He explained that before venturing into acting, he worked as a model. Mokeme clarified that, in order to fully focus on his acting career, he had to leave his home.
Speaking in an interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo, the actor shared: “You couldn’t even say you want to be an actor before you will hear that he [my father] didn’t want you to be an actor [laughs].
Chidi Mokeme disclosed how he used to sneak out of the house to movie sets and also to shoot TV and modeling commercials.
Chidi Mokeme, Nollywood actor. source: Google
“So, I knew in my mind. I started by sneaking out to go do these things. Luckily I started as a model. Back in the days before the home video industry, I did a lot of commercial modeling, runways, TV commercials, and calendars. So it was way easier. You can go in the daytime, do a quick shoot, and come back home. And my father is unlikely to see it because he is not in the world of that.
“But on many occasions when I came back late from shoots, he asked me to go back to wherever I was coming from. From all the sneaking out and of course, there was passion. I just knew that I was happy when I was in this [entertainment] space.
“And I think what broke the camel's back, eventually, I tried to read pharmacy but it wasn’t happening, then I eventually went into computer science. But when I got to school, there were no computers. There was just one computer in the entire department and that computer sits on the table of the lecturer. So I left because it wasn’t interesting anymore.
“Then, I decided to leave home. I didn’t just pack my bags and leave; it was from all the experiences of ‘go back where you are coming from.’ I started committing more so that my dad would say I should go back to where I am coming from.”
English (US)