Dannydigit Exclusive Interview with A-list actor and former President AGN

Segun Arinze and Dannydigit

Born in Onitsha, Anambra state, his early education was at victory college of commerce in Illorin and Taba commercial college, Kaduna. The A-list actor recieved his dramatic training at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile Ife. Segun Arinze who is know for his "bad guy" roles also speaks several Nigerian languages fluently.
His screen creedits include "the silent night", "church in crisis", 'darkest night', "battle of love", "Atlanta"and the popular TV soap operas "Mega Fortune" and "Rpples" and a host to the Popular AIT talk show "no holds barred". Married to a lovely wife "Julie" who has bore him two lovely kids (the most recent in Texas, USA on March 2, 2012). In dannydigitcommand terms, I will say "him too correct"
In this interview he speaks on his role as president Actors Guild of Nigeria before resignation, his marriage, his next move carreer wise, the ethnic differences in the indusrty

1. In the indusrty thus far what are your accomplishments as an A-list actor and former AGN president?
   My accomplishment as AGN president is that we were able to affiliate ourselves with the Federation of international actors, which is quite an interesting one for us, then we also worked on a platform with the screen actors guild of America, then also we had an understanding with the Ghana actors guild, successively we were able to bring back the house(Nollywood) together in one piece before the recent ugly turn of events. It has been exciting, the experience was good for me,being an administrative president of the Guild i learnt alot.
2. In the above statement you made mention of "recent ugly turn of events"what experinces are you talking about?
   Well the experiences am talking about is , the recently botched elections that was held at Baden hotel, Benin City, Edo state on Friday April 27, 2012.We were meant to have elections but unfortunately it was disrupted, and left everyone hanging. At the end of the day the election was aborted.  Due to certain miscunduct that I couldn't stand and being a disciplined person I decided to resign as  the AGN president, steping aside and allowing them to do as intended.
3. There was alot of talk(wahala) in the press between you and Emeka Ike( an actor) who claimed that your reign was illegal. what would you say to that note?
     Well, I think it was just all part of shinanigan we are talking about, its nothing to worry about or me getting worried over, its just mere shinanigan.(laughs)
4. Tells us about your marriage/married life..
    Am enjoying myself in my marriage, we are approaching five years now, we have two lovely kids, Ayo and Femi, we take one step at a time as we go along. I have a wonderful wife.
5. What advice will you give to people out there hoping to and about to get married, especially in the Nollywood industry?
    Marriage is not a bed of roses, one must be tolerant, patient, one must understand that both parties come from different backgrounds, come together to make a family, so openness is key, understanding yourselves as well, above all, its having faith and believing in God thats most important. No one wants to marry and gets divorced, for me as a person, you need to make your marriage exciting, make it what you want it to be, dull, boring or exciting the choice is yours. Mine is exciting.(laughs). yes of course in marriage there's bound to be disagreement, agreement, continue to live together. Its fun seeing your children growing up and in time the couples feel like nbrother and sister.
6. What do you have to tell us about your new baby?
     Hnnmmm the new baby was born in Houston Texas, in the USA. on March 2 this year. I feel blessed and am proud of my kids. I love them so much.
7. We know you are already a father ,but being a father is always a different experience, what's this experience like? are you doing diaper runs?
    laughs..of course I did diaper runs, its fun. Especially when Femi needs something and the mum is not around, i fill in, or when she's going out and says "look after the kids" . Lucky enough we've had alot of helpers around, her aunty, sisters. e.t.c.
8. What is the next move carrier wise?
    Am planning on a soap opera, producing and directing myself. Am also looking at setting up an academy for grooming upcoming and aspiring actors and actresses, more like giving back to the society. Those are the two areas i am working on at the moment before other things and nearest future.
9. Being the President AGN before you resigned, because of your principles we understand.  Why can't actors be under one umbrella, why the ethnic barriers? There is the Yoruba Guild, English Guild, the Warri people doing their own thing. Why the division?
    For me personally I think its because of the nature of Nigeria, how we are, the people we are. There's the saying that "when the mother cow chooses, the calf watches", its a reflextion of the society, thats exactly what is playing itself out within nollywood. There is no reason why proffesional actors can't come together under one umbrella, but unfortunately for us everybody likes to play the ethnic card, and for me it doesn't work, I believe we are proffesionals and should be seen as proffesionals. If you want to start playing it as a political party, then go register it as a political party and we would now know its official. Like me, I am from Lagos, I have Igbo blood, i speak  hausa (the three main languages) and that has contibuted in my belief in oneness. But unfortunately for us, Nigerians like to play politics with everything, seeking for Glory, the belief in the "I" thing not the "we" thing..am  always a we person.
10. What's your advice to Upcoming Actors and Actresses?
     I would say they should be focused, strong and be devoid of politics and should go to school, thats the most important thing.This days for you to sell in the international market, one has to be  good at what you do. The music industry has shown and proven it. So why can't the actors and actresses do it?!
11. The music industry has progressed to mergers with foreign record labels and artists, in that regard, when is Nollywood expecting a real partnership with Hollywood. (Because renting two-bit foreign actors and using them in nollywood movies does not make it hollywood standard)
     Well its the producers that are held responsible, though I see it coming soon if we work hard at it. Our producers just pick up people and say their hollywooda(most of them are not even known to us)  and with the help of media hype they pronouce it hollywood standard. In the hollywood industry, directors just don't pick up anyone and star him/her in a hollywood rated movie. we have past that level, but i know we will get there once we organise ourselves.
12. What will you say as regards to our copyright policies?
      We only pay lip service to copy right laws as far as am concerned. We need to wake up and do more in terms of piracy, copy right, and intelectual property. Right now there are no collecting societies, just a few, but once you can have strong and reliable ones backed by the law and law enforcements agencies to help actualize this things, I strongly know it would work. Some people don't even know what copyright is about, its a huge industry on its own, with the attention of a legal team to sort that out.