I fainted when Queen Amina fell off a horse on set —Natty Bruce, action movie actor

Natty Bruce Idigbogu, an actor, film-maker, is popular for his roles in home-made action movies. After pulling a stunt in Queen Amina, a movie produced by Izu Ojukwu, he speaks with Newton-Ray Ukwuoma concerning his journey through the movie industry. Excerpts:

Would you say that the action movie section of Nollywood is not popular?

The issue is not that we are not popular, the problem is we don’t have credible writers, who can come up with well-structured scripts. With such scripts, we in the action movie sector would rule the industry.

Do you think we have the capacity to pull off a convincing action movie?

Yes, we do. But we have not been able to leverage on this technology. As Nollywood develops and diversifies, there will be roles for action actors and other characterisation other than drama movies. It also boils down to great scripts from our bankable writers, which will attract sponsors and facilitate great productions. Due to lack of funding on our side, we have not been able to structure the sector that will merge technology with talent. For me I have been able to forge ahead because I am persistent and I never give up. I believe in the principle of “doing what you love doing and eventually it will pay off”.

What project are you working on now?

I have just concluded my workshop with the theme, “Youths out of Penury”, which began in September and finished November 2017. We trained the youths on how to break into action films. We offered them certificates and gave them the opportunity of appearing in the first movie of their life. The movie will soon pass through digital and pay TV distribution. Early this year at Ode-Remo in Ogun State, we showcased some of the youths in an open talent show organised by Niyi Egega, a UK based entertainment guru.

Last year crowd funding initiative was done for you by colleagues, has it achieved its objective?

In this industry, everyone has his or her own issues and challenges. Only one person made a move by donating N50, 000 for others to follow. But as it was, her money was refunded to her due to the fact that no one else supported her. But that does not scuttle my dreams.

What are the major movies and works you have featured in?

I have featured in films like Aguba Igogoro, Guardian Angel, President Must Not Die, Never End, Billionaire Club, Onye Obioma, Best of the Game, Mission to No Where, Udalaoma and Saving Grace. I also featured and coordinated stunts in these jobs. I featured in ‘Nzeogwu the warrior’ which was my major directorial breakthrough in the home video market. My biggest works so far are yet to hit the cinemas, they are “Tribe” by Ifeanyi Onyeabor, “Queen Amina” by Izu Ojukwu and produced by Okechukwu Ogunjiofor of Living in Bondage fame. I trained all the crowds in these movies on film fighting and coordinated stunts in the films.

What in your opinion is the future of motion picture industry in Nigeria?

The motion picture industry has got huge prospects, as long as we imbibe the spirit of training and retraining.

How exactly did you start featuring in the action movie section?

As a young act around my tender age of about nineteen years, I had the opportunity of coming across the cinema business as a projectionist. That job inspired me to join the then NTA Aba dramatists in Saturday theatre. (That was before Living in Bondage of 1992.) After Living in Bondage introduced the success of home video in Nigeria, I was featured in Circle of Doom. I think I made a great impact in that movie. The next film that brought me into total limelight was Idejimba, the raw deal, which I played a ruthless executor serving the bad guy named, Idejimba. The movie was another success after Living in Bondage.

Did you have a form of training in martial art? 

My knowledge of martial arts began at age of 10 in Aba, Abia State.Then I was inspired by the works of Bruce Lee and other wonderful Chinese heroes. My martial arts education consists of Judo, Kung-fu, Karate, Taekwondo and kickboxing. I joined the cinema in 1986 and produced my first film, “Hundred steps of Karate “in Aba, which was shown in all the cinema houses over there and around Port Hartcort then. I left Aba for Lagos in 1996.

What role did you play in Queen Amina?

My experience on the set of Queen Amina was God-ordained. I was teaching participants actions and stunts for the movies, till the last minute when the director, Izu Ojukwu told me that they had forged ahead after waiting for me to come and start training participants’ stunts to no avail. I thanked him and left. Few days later, my phone rang and Izu’s voice was on the other side said, “Natty come let’s see”. That was how I became the actions and stunts coordinator for Queen Amina.

How would you describe your experience?

The task was not easy because I single-handedly trained more than 400 people in camp for a month with the assistance from my older students before the shooting commenced.The training involved film fighting, sword handling and conditioning, choreography of fights, etc, with Ali Nuhu and Sani Danja taking the classes with other men and women.

Queen Amina involves a lot of fights, especially crowd fight (war). What were the challenges you faced putting the stunts together?

Most of the scenes were shot during the harmattan of 2015. Jos weather is harshest during the harmattan, yet we had to shoot, I had to coordinate thousands of fighters. The work was very energetic and I had to rely on my instincts most of the time. Second, I also had to satisfy the director, Izu Ojukwu, who believed I could do anything stunt. He was always like, “Natty! I need this situation, and that situations. I give you ten minutes to come up with a believable fight”. Men! When I look at the crowd, men and women, with swords, men and women on top of horses, I was almost discouraged. The worst experience that blanked me out for some minutes was when my lead girl, Amey Lucy, who played the role of Queen Amina fell off a horse, died and came back to life again when we screamed “Jesus!” Today, I give God all the glory and honour for making that project a great one.