I’m shooting movie on Apostle Suleiman — T. T. Temple

Actor Temple Ugochukwu Ikechi, popularly known as T. T. Temple, is one of Nollywood’s ace role-players. Known for his kingly roles, Temple has featured in countless movie productions since 2005 when he finally broke into the movie industry. Newton-Ray Ukwuoma spoke with the ex-civil servant who abandoned a career in the Federal Ministry of Information for the make-believe industry in 1999. He shared some intriguing accounts of his involvement in the Nigerian movie world.

Sir, what is the full meaning of the initials T. T. in your name?

First, my real name is Temple Ugochukwu Ikechi. I was given the name T. T. Temple in secondary school as a nickname. Everyone had a nickname then. If you didn’t have, some people would give you one. The name was interesting so I adopted it. I tried to put things around the double T. One of my very funny friends, Godwin Anosike, now a medical doctor, called me Thompson Turns Temple, but I said it should be Trinity Tabernacle Temple, because I was, and still is, very Christian.  When I was to commence a career in the movie industry, I went with the name because everyone had known me with it. I think the name has worked for me.

You are easily classified as one among veterans in Nollywood.

[Cuts in] I am not a veteran. I have very senior colleagues that are veterans, some of whom are like mentors to me. Someone like High Chief Pete Edochie has been there before I ever thought about acting. In fact, he created the situation that made someone like me believe that I would have a space in the movie industry.

Why did you chose the movie industry? Was it by accident or design or choice?

I wouldn’t say it was by accident. I worked in the civil service, the Federal Ministry of Information. While I was still in the service, I was also looking at the industry; the industry was just starting then. I was waiting to get out of service to look at it properly. I knew I had a space in the industry and I wanted to get it.

What year did you finally decide to leave civil service for Nollywood?

I left service in 1999, but I had my break into Nollywood in 2005. That is why I tell people that I am not a veteran yet, because I just started. It is perhaps the grace of God that had taken me thus far. When I started, I didn’t know anybody in the industry. I was attending auditions upon auditions – without any calls. At a point, I was running a restaurant in order to provide for my family; I had about two restaurants at the time. In a day in Lagos I could go to three auditions. I might be in an audition in Surulere and someone could come from Island with news that another audition was being held there. We will, from Surulere, go to Island and, while in Island, someone else might also call to say there was another audition at Ikeja and we will, after auditioning in Island, drive to Ikeja. But nobody really got back to us. It was difficult for people like us to break into the industry.

Did you contemplate leaving at that time?

I was very determined in the beginning because I knew I had a space. Some of us dropped for good reasons. Going to auditions without results was not only time and energy consuming, but also money consuming. I was almost going to stop at some point because my wife was also nursing her own misgivings. She did not say them, but I knew she was thinking I was wasting far too much time and money on something that wasn’t yielding any fruits. Also, my restaurants weren’t getting much attention from me anymore. I did a few of what they called pilot movies, I wasn’t paid. Some production houses would tell you to pay. I didn’t pay nobody. All of these, at some point, were getting to me and I was going to leave.

I was in my house one day when I heard a voice, the Holy Spirit said to my spirit, “The movie industry you want to drop, hold it in your left hand and hold your Bible in your right hand and move”. This was around 4 am. After that voice, I was convinced more than ever before that the movie industry was my domain. Few days after the voice, my right arm began to shake. I didn’t know how to stop it. I went to General Hospital in Isolo for treatment. As I was waiting my turn, a young man, who sat beside me, received a call and began to talk loudly on the phone about auditions and casting.

The voice again told me to talk to him. I didn’t want to.  I later spoke to him after struggling within myself. In fact, he was leaving the premises when I caught up with him. To cut the long story short, he gave me the address to Amaka Igwe’s studio. I was to fill a form for an audition that was to end that day. Since audition was too close, I gave up. But two days after, I heard the same voice nudging me to go to Amaka Igwe’s studio. I was fighting the voice again because I felt the registration had ended. After a lot of hesitations I left just to know the place.

When I got to the studio, as I stepped into the office, I saw an old school mate from Ife. He was newly employed. He was so happy to see me. He directed me to the right person, who told me that the deadline for the form was that day, not two days before. I was to fill out and submit the form that day with N2, 000. I didn’t have the money. I had to return home. My wife gave me the money with which I paid. On the day of audition, I was, for the first time, asked to come back the next morning. We were there the next day. Amaka Igwe was there. She told us that we were 54 out of the 174 people that made it. She said we were going to be working for her going forward and that the N2, 000 fee was for two days training on acting. We were also to get a certificate after the training. And truly, a week later we came for the training. She invited people like Joke Silva and others to train us.

What happened to the pain in your arm?

I didn’t even know when the pain in my arm left. It didn’t occur to me that my arm was shaking. The doctor that I met that day laughed when I told him I came to the hospital because of my shaking arm. He gave me some pain killers and to this day it disappeared. The story did not end there. About a week after the course, I got a phone call from Amaka Igwe studio inviting me for a movie production; it was a series. I was asked to come for the reading of the script. There was also a script conference. We shot for a week; I had 16 scenes. After the production, we went for a wrap-up party. Thereafter, I was given a cheque. It was my first cheque. I have never been paid a dime since I started. My wife, who was already sceptical about it, began to look at it differently. She didn’t believe I could be paid that much for a week’s work. So that was how I started off.

Since then you have done so much work. How were you able to penetrate mainstream movie production? 

It was by grace. Remember I did not come into the industry by my own accord. God has been directing my steps ever since. Truth is, the industry is saturated with talents and a lot of people want you to fail so that they can grab your space. The competition is very stiff, no matter the level.

The younger ones may have stiffer competition. We also have competition.

But it is all about determination and the grace of God. I am wont to tell young people not to let people’s criticisms get to them: Know your space, have focus and keep moving on. Even after my first break, I still went to auditions. I started to get more jobs. TV series like Needle’s Eye got me a lot of attention. When it was time to transit from soaps to mainstream, I had to take my time; I had to become very humble.

Once you get a project in the mainstream, a few things are key. Make sure you have your lines. This is very important. It will determine the extent of your success. If people are discussing here and I have a script to interpret, I am not listening to anyone. I am learning my lines. Sometimes you may just have finished casting for a movie and someone else calls you for another job. You were not casted for the role, but because somebody disappointed them, they decide to give you the job and you are supposed to start work the next day.

As someone who wants to prove his mettle, you have no option but to get your lines right there. And when you get it right, they will call you for another job. That was how I started penetrating. I will not negotiate with them. My concern will be to do the job well. They see the seriousness and dedication. They see the spirit. And some of them will secretly admire it and refer you to their friends. I have been on set where actors harangue producers because of food on set. I don’t do that; I don’t bother about nothing. I tell people, your dedication must get to your neck. The industry wants you to fail. There are a thousand and one persons willing to take the job from you. Now, you have it, don’t let it slip away from you. Hold it firmly.

They may have felt that they were using me and it might be so, but out of wisdom, I know that they were giving me a platform. They have the platform, I have the talent; it is called leveraging.  One day, you will be up there because your work speaks for you. And when they call you, instead of asking you to come to Alaba to collect your script, they will get the script to you. Then, you will begin to decide your pay. Their platform has lifted you and you have become an asset to them. But you wouldn’t have gotten there without humility, persistence and dedication.

It took a while to get you. How busy are you these days?

By the grace of God, today, it is like we do not have space. I have been up and about the country. I shot in Port Harcourt, came back to Lagos to shoot two films and then went back to Owerri, shot two films in Owerri and then went to Auchi. I just came in from Auchi.

What movie did you shoot in Auchi?

I went to shoot a movie for Apostle Johnson  Suleiman, his autobiography. I played Lucifer. It was a night shoot from 12 midnight to 4am.

Are you saying Apostle Suleiman is making a movie about himself?

Yes.

And he has started?

Yes, he has. You know he came from a Muslim background.  The story of his conversion, his persecutions and how Satan had tried to stop him at different times. The story also entails some of the signs that happened during his birth as well as some of the current row with government and other things.

We learnt that the mother and sister of Stephanie Otodo visited his church recently.

Yes. I was there. It was within the period of the movie shoot. I was in the church. That Sunday was his birthday, so I decided to worship there. It was also my first time of coming in contact with him. The high point for me was when the mother and the sister visited. They begged on her behalf.  The man of God said, “If Christ was here, what would Christ do? If Christ was in my position, what would Christ do? He forgave her.

What is your assessment of the situation?

I do not know most of the matter. But one thing I know about men of God is this: if he does something wrong and even if it is true, we do not know his relationship with the Holy Spirit. Because God is ever loving and forgiving, he might go back into his room to seek forgiveness from God like David. He might even go as far as putting his anointing in the line to receive pardon.  God will forgive him, while men continue to talk about it. If God has forgiven someone and you are still talking about it, you are directly inviting the wrath of God on yourself, especially when the person in question is His anointed servant. My advice is that people should stop talking about men of God because we do not know their relationship with God.

You are known mostly as the king or chief-in-council in most of your movies. Are there roles you decided not to play?

I can play any role given to me. People talk about my role as king because it is the one that is easily noticed. I have played the role of chief priest. Most of my other characters are wicked and deadly. People don’t really see those. Nevertheless, I don’t take any that comes my way. I have respectively rejected some roles in the past. I don’t like when directors insist that sex with one’s spouse in a movie should be obscene. I don’t like to play such roles. I have had to caution some directors about it.

What would you say is your signature?

My beards possibly. I have kept my beards since they started growing. I don’t cut my beards.

What new role do you wish to play that you have not played before?

There is no role I can’t play if it fits the description. But I think I want to do something different, something cinematic, maybe a chief executive officer, a corporate situation and perhaps some mafia flick, where I would play the god-father, so that I can deal with a lot of people.

If it requires cutting your beards, maybe for N50m, would you do it?

Yes. I will cut my beards. You know what, if I cut my beards, it will grow back in two weeks.

Are there times when your Christian belief has interfered with your role interpretation and how did you handle it?

For me, acting is not real. My Christian life is real. If a role goes contrary to the Bible, I have to interpret it just the same and go contrary to the Bible properly. Most times, some of my roles are very bad, sometimes I have to kill people. Should I say because the Bible is against murder then, I should not act it? No. The only thing I do is that I ask the Holy Spirit to help me interpret my roles well.