The incredible Nigerian actor Chidi Mokeme has revealed that he actually enjoys playing the bad guy in movies, adding that good guys often play the boring part.
The actor who embodied Scar in ‘Shanty Town’, a 6-episode series released in January, said it took a lot of research to be able to bring out the character in a way that viewers can relate.
“It took a lot of digging deep. I’m always down to play the villain because I think the villain always has the most fun in every movie. The good guy just runs around chasing the villain while the villain is enjoying themselves,” he said.
“For me, Scar was an embodiment of everything wrong on the streets of Lagos. So, I had to find different places where I could dig out those typical characteristics of the terrors on the streets of Lagos, and that’s what I did,”
In his search for originality, Mokeme said he had to visit Shita in Lagos as well as listen to songs by Olamide, King Sunny Ade, and Pasuma.
“I went straight back to the ghettos and listened to ghetto music. I researched which people were running in the streets as far as music was concerned. My first trip was to Shita in my disguise. I spent about two hours just sitting in one corner taking it all in. There were all sorts of music playing from everywhere, everybody competing to blast their own music and people walking around nonchalantly.
“It was this whole different world laid bare before me. I took a liking to all the songs that I was listening to, coming out of all those speakers. Next, I went to YouTube and filled my whole environment with these sounds from Olamide, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, Pasuma and King Suny Ade to familiarise myself with the street lingua which differs from the normal lingo,” he said.
Chidi Mokeme has enjoyed great attention after the release of Shanty Town which featured other quality casts such as Nancy Isime, RMD and Ini Edo.
