My greatest moment as an actor –Ramsey Nouah

Ramsey Nouah is one of the most-sought after and good looking actor in the movie industry who has been very much relevant in his career. Having played several roles from lover boy to Major General and most recently a woman role; it will amaze you that Ramsey still has dream roles. For some, his personality can be misjudged as the tough and serious. Ramsey on the TV screen is fun to be with in person. Quite reserved in this exclusive interview with MUTIAT ALLI , the father-of-three, opened up on his role in the much talked about movie ‘My Wife & I, insight into Nollywood’s growth overtime, his greatest and lowest moment as an actor amongst others.

Enjoy:

How did you manage to get into the role in the movie my wife and I?

Trust me, it wasn’t fun at all (laughs…) it was very awkward. Every time I have to play that part am always like Errrrg!!! , I hated it. Professional ethics though still demands that you should still do the stuff that you’re meant to do.

What was the experience like wearing a female’s dress?

I don’t know why they’re so passionate about men trying to be like women, I don’t know what it is. It excites them. Everywhere I go, I remember the red carpet, and it was the same thing. Why does it excite you girls so much? Like you wish the world was with entire women, no men at all? Cos I don’t get it, cos that’s the way it is. It wasn’t fun, I don’t get it!

Was it very challenging?

Of course, it was challenging because you have to get into the character, you know… do what your wife does, what your mom or your sisters do, which is very unlike you… you know, there is something about it. You know the masculine pride has a way of causing it and making it seem like “what is wrong with you? How will you be feminine  like that?”

Is this the most challenging role you have taken?

No… Not exactly. It’s not mentally demanding, don’t get me wrong. It’s just the fact that the morals were the challenges that’s why I was doing a little bit of reservation but of course, I still tried to pull it through. This is like comedy, it’s nothing serious. I could play with it…Besides, it was pretty hard for me to get those gestures and mannerisms but my colleague helped me out… Omoni Oboli, she gave me all the insights. (Laughs)

So how did your fans respond to the movie?

Few of them felt like “oh God! How will you ridicule Ramsey Noah like this now? How will you bring him down so much like that? To me is just a professional thing… what you really must do, you must do!

Are we getting there in Nollywood? Are we improving or drawing back to where we started?

For Nollywood, there have been phases of grace for us. It seems like we started off on a good note but you got me thinking. It’s not as if it’s not a good note, it is, but good start is an influx of stories. It became saturated. People got tired and everybody thought the ministry has reached its peak. There was nowhere else to go. Hence that point in time is where everyone begins to see that oooh, are we growing or we are falling? But here is how it is yes, we had a bit of performance, acting in the beginning. The performance acting became saturated because there were too many movies outside. Technical didn’t grow from the beginning. It was going to get better but in the middle it got worse.  Your technical strength are growing. And what even brought the topic was the seemliness. For you to shoot a movie, it is capital intensive, there is the big screen, and you have to get every details right. So technical are now good. We’re getting better at technical. And there is a nose dive in the performances now. Actors! You know where to give perfectly, perfect act. So where we have gotten to now besides technical is acting. Acting is a bit better. Acting is getting better as we go on, there is need for that bridge. For technical and acting for us to have a smooth production of filming. At some point in time, we will bring about movies that will of course stand the test of time.

Just another film after 76’, are you choosy when it comes to scripts or there are not coming?

We all have to be choosy. You can’t take every script that comes your way because you and I will agree that you are better off choosing characters that will suit you or befit you most. You understand… Can’t just be picking up any story or character that is not challenging. It has to be very challenging.

So what do you look out for in the script?

Hmm… looking out for the story to start with, then I look out for the character. The character am playing and the story itself, how important is my character to the entire story. So the story is very key, you can’t miss it.

So will you reject a script because a particular actor you are not comfortable with is in movie?

It’s rare that I would because it has never happened to me, I have never rejected any script because of that. Except am having like a dispute with the person which is rare… maybe am not comfortable with the person. Maybe we are having a bit of disagreement… maybe that.

You have played a number of remarkable roles; so do you still have a dream role?

Oh… yeah… There are lots of characters that’ll come to play but am not going to say it. Not going let the cat out of the bag. Lots of them, but in due time some of it will unfold.

What convinced you to take up this role in My Wife & I?

Because of the challenging part. I have never done it before. I think I have some years back but then I was undercover so I dressed like a woman in the year 2000. So I tied gele and scarf for me so I did all that. But this one is different. And there is a message to this one. And the message is very simple. It’s like, what are the conflicts in marriages? And why are they always having problems? A situation had to happen where by the male went into a female body and the female went into a male body. So that you can understand the problem with each other to understand where to find their balance in marriages. So that’s the story. It was quite challenging a story.

You are over 40 and still looking good; what is the secret to your youthful look?

Well… some drinking of vampire blood (Laughs)… want to go drink some OkeApata (Laughs). Well, I think it’s joy from within. A whole lot of people tend to pack up some bad Belle and be vexing for days. A beautiful smile every day could take you a long way.

Your marriage appears to have stood the test of time. You have been married for 15 years now. Some of your colleagues have been unlucky in this regard.

Contrary to a widely held notion, the success of a marriage largely rests on the woman. But these days, a lot of marriages are based on equality. A woman wants to get 50 per cent of whatever she is giving into the marriage back from the man. This has led to the breakdown of many marriages. From time our mothers used to be the women that held their marriages. They were in charge of the home. Our mothers took charge of everything but today women don’t want that kind of responsibility. Hence, it is affecting marriages.

You have played a couple of love scenes in films. In terms of chemistry, will you play any love scene in terms of seeing an actress?

Errm… if the character demands, why not? With anybody, why not? But it depends on the “anybody” you mean. I could play a love film with a female counterpart, it has to be the opposite sex, and you know what I mean.

What determines the chemistry with the co-stars?

It’s internal. There’s a professional ethic to drive you to do whatever you are doing, secondly, you have to find the internal energy and connection between you and the other actor. That’s the way you feel it. I mean, there are so many factors. You can also talk of attraction factor. You have to know when to balance it out.

A lot of people say there is a thick parallel line between the actors and the stage performers?

A whole lot of people know that the stage is quite demanding. It demands everything. It’s very physical, it’s very energetic, it’s also very brain tasking because you have to know the lines. Besides if you know the lines, you have to know all the movements and you’re not just getting yours, you’re getting that of other actors with you. So, stage people tend to pride themselves that of course, they are stronger actors compared to screen actors. I kind of believe that because that might be true. They are quite exhausting. It’s pretty exhausting to be on stage whereas screen is a bit more fluid, more firmly, you know? For instance, you don’t have to over emphasize facial gestures or expressions on camera to show your emotions. But on stage, you have to over express it. It has to be very open. You must be loud and stuff with the mannerisms that goes with it.

What has been your greatest moment as an actor?

Sighs! I think it’s when I spend time with my family. When I go for holidays, going places or something. Adventures and stuff like that. Professionally, one of my greatest moments was when I shot dangerous twins with Tade Ogidan. Because it was very demanding. At the time they didn’t have all the TV technology that we have today. Now you can see twins and all of that. That time we had to manually do it. So scenes that had twins in it may be shot for like 2-3 days. Just one scene. So it was quite demanding and tasking too. So sometimes we had to lock the camera, face it for a master shot, then I will come and address this other figure that is not there. Sometimes the director says “”Ok, that’s a take” other times he says “try do it again, you got something wrong there”. And when you are done, quickly go change to the other costume and you come back there and then answer and reply everything you said, and after that, if the director says its fine, good. If he says it’s not fine, you will do another take. Then we’ll now cut. We’ll now bring the camera down to medium shots. Then you do it all over again. You do this one, then go back there and do the other one.  When it comes to close up, we would do the same thing. Sometimes, we have like 2 days or one whole day repeating.

As an actor, what will you consider as your low moment in the industry?

2006 I think, when a couple of us actors were black listed by marketers for no good reason of course, at that moment, there was a turnaround in my fate in the industry. I was like “what the hell? Why do we have this?” so hence when the cinema came in, I was very happy to help curb our industry because we lacked structure and regulation.  No regulatory bodies to checkmate certain things. A whole lot of things just went haywire. That was one of my low-points in the industry.

What has a crazy fan done to you?  Maybe embarrassing?

So many… hug me, kiss me. It might be a bit embarrassing but some people have an expressive way of doing their stuff. You can’t stop them. Because they could make things happen for you. Make your world go round. Infact, I don’t wanna go into the explicit ones… (Laughs)

What has Fame done to you?

Fame has its benefits. Good place, good moments and it has its down side. A whole lot of people appreciate you. You meet lots of people who tend to appreciate you from a different perspective. You know they see you around. All your fans especially here in Lagos to be precise see you as their ATM machine. Like their good morning and greeting has to be paid for. Like if they greet you, you know you have to drop. So it’s quite a thorn in the flesh for that (laughs).

A lot of your colleagues have dived into music. Is Ramsey Noah going to sing?

Ah no! (Laughs). I never say never to anything though but not really. I don’t think so.