My colleagues blackmailed, wrecked my career

Nollywood actor Hanks Anuku has revealed how blackmail from some of his colleagues derailed his career.

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The 64-year-old actor’s revelation comes nearly a year after he spoke about how a viral video falsely depicting him as mentally unstable damaged his career and left him traumatised.

In 2022, PREMIUM TIMES reported that a video showing the actor in an unstable state surfaced on social media.

However, in an interview on ‘Nollywood Hardcore’, posted on YouTube on 23 March, Mr Anuku—known for his iconic villainous roles—said he was blackmailed out of envy and jealousy.

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He said: “We must always keep space for falling and standing up again. In this industry, there are so many staircases that are not well-built. Even if you try to get up, someone out there will try to bring you down with diabolism. In the industry, some people were diabolical, envious, and jealous of my shine. I was blackmailed, and I don’t know what I did to them. That set me back for a couple of years.

“They used a clip taken from a movie set to drag me down, claiming I was mad, sick, and all sorts of lies. I was knocked out for years without a job. Directors and others in the industry backbit me and talked about things I knew nothing about. After being left out for years without a job, I travelled to Ghana. I worked for the former president, Nana Akufo-Addo, for a couple of years. I campaigned for him, and he won. I was with him before I came back to Nigeria, so I stayed in Nigeria until COVID-19 came in. I was about to return to Ghana to pick up my passport, but COVID-19 devastated me.”

Never sick

Additionally, the Delta-born actor stated that his colleagues’ hypocrisy and lack of exposure led them to spread false rumours about his health despite him being perfectly fine.

Mr Anuku lamented that the Nollywood industry has not evolved as he once envisioned, emphasising that actors, directors, and other industry professionals lack versatility.

“I was never sick anyway, but the envy in the industry is a terrible thing. In today’s industry, there are a lot more hypocrites. They don’t even learn or expose themselves, so they bring in a local way of life. When you speak to them, they seem not to understand. I was trying to get into the role. If I have to play a mad person, I have to go out there to figure out how to master it.

“I have to go where mad people are, see them, and watch them so people don’t know what I’m doing. I was trying to get into the mood of being that insane person they needed me to play. I don’t even know who was recording me. It was early in the morning—I just wanted to get the feeling. I’m not a madman, but if you give me that role, I will go all the way, one hundred per cent, to master it,” said Mr Anuku.

This newspaper reported that when the video surfaced online, his associate and friend, Nonso Ofole, dismissed claims of mental illness, noting that he (Mr Anuku) was not ‘insane’.

Furthermore, in November 2022, the actor told this newspaper that he was in good health and even hinted at a possible run for political office.

An alumnus of Auchi Polytechnic in Edo State, Mr Anuku also denied the video’s authenticity, which portrayed him as unkempt and wandering the streets of Asaba and Benin City.

Mr Anuku has starred in numerous films, including Broad Daylight, Formidable Force, Bitter Honey, The Captor, Men on Hard Way, Fools on the Run, Desperate Ambition, My Love, Wanted Alive, and Rambo.