Nigerian comedian and actor Bovi Ugboma has revealed why he deliberately rejected some movie roles after gaining recognition for his performance in Extended Family.
Speaking on the CreativiTea Podcast, Bovi explained that the success of his role in the movie led to a series of offers from filmmakers who wanted him to portray similar characters.
According to the comedian, some of the roles included playing a “Warri boy,” a gateman and other characters that he felt were too passive or closely related to the image audiences had already associated with him.
Bovi said he became concerned that repeatedly accepting such roles could make him typecast in the Nigerian film industry.
He noted that the offers continued to come even after he had taken on similar characters, eventually forcing him to become more intentional about the roles he accepted.
The actor explained that he turned down some opportunities because he knew he was capable of portraying a wider range of characters and did not want his acting career to be limited to one particular image.
“I knew there was more to me,” Bovi said.
He further noted that his background in comedy also played a role in the kinds of movie characters filmmakers initially offered him. According to him, some producers appeared to base their casting decisions on the comedic personalities and characters audiences were already familiar with.
Bovi maintained that he was not prepared to accept every available role simply for the sake of appearing in more movies, especially when the character required him to repeat a role he had already portrayed.
For the comedian, being selective became necessary to demonstrate his versatility as an actor and create room for more challenging and diverse opportunities.