On Silver Screen and the Spiritual Stage

The rotund figure flashes a smile behind a dark shade. Understated in appearance, he is unmistakable in his gait, grace and gumption. Methodical and mesmerizing at the same time, he has become arguably the finest bilingual Nigerian actor that has ever graced the silver screen and Nigeria’s effervescent stage. Dressed in simple but stylish cream attire, Akin Lewis lounges in a sofa as he speaks with Funke Olaode. A man of many parts –from the spiritual to the silver screen, Lewis talks about his ambition, acting and agony. There is much more to know about one of Nigeria’s most understated superstars who excels in the film industry with ease and tantalises millions with his sterling exploits both on and off ff the screen –and, ,y yes, off the stage

Not many movie superstars alive in Nigeria can match his exploits – and his statistics. He is perhaps the best bilingual Nigerian actor – English and Yoruba – that has ever walked the earth. His eternal class is tempered b by his simplicity and his success is subdued by his modesty. His rich repertoire of knowled knowledge, experience and exposure dates back to t the 1960s – Akin Lewis stormed into the con consciousness of Nigerians as a teenage acto actor on the Western Nigerian Television (W (WNTV) at that time. From soap operas like S Spider, Footprints, Two Sides of a Coin among amo others, the Lagos-born movie superstar ha has continued to rediscover and reinvent himself him with effortless resilience.

Method Methodical and mesmerizing as an actor, Lewis has become b one of the finest Nigerian actors that h have ever graced the silver screen and Nigeria’s Nigeria effervescent stage. Dressed in simple but s stylish cream attire, Akin Lewis lounges in a sofa sipping a cup of tea. A man of many pa parts –from the spiritual to the silver screen, Lew Lewis excels in the film industry with ease and tan tantalises millions with his sterling exploits bot both on and off the screen –and, yes, off the stage as an actor who has been in the limelight fo for almost 50 years. He has had his charming and an challenging times though.

One tha that almost killed his childhood ambition was w his father’s refusal to let him become an a actor. His father’s refusal was not far-fetch far-fetched. Acting in those days was considered a profession for drop-outs. The older Lewis couldn’t see the reason his son could not follow fo in the footsteps of siblings who are now accountants. Young Lewis stood his ground.

The rew reward of resilience led to his going to the presti prestigious University of Ife, now Obafemi A Awolowo Ife – to study Theatre Arts – under un the tutelage of Prof. Wole Soyinka. He graduated with a first class in 1979. He later got a distinction at a Bulgaria Bulgarian university where he studied Acting and Directing for his master’s degree degree.

“I have been in acting business for 45 years now and still counting. I am over 60 years. I started very early immediately after secondary school. I joined a group led by the then Mr. Bode Sowande, now a professor at the University of Ibadan. I was based in Ibadan and along the line I got a job with the NTV, now NTA,” he narrates.

“I was told that as a child I was fascinated by TV programmes such as children’s plays. It was the day of comics and I used to read a lot of books. That was how it started – that experience must have awakened my hidden talent. At Lagelu Grammar School in Ibadan, I was a member of Literary and Debating Society and Dramatic Society and we were doing a lot of plays that was when it became clear to me that it was my calling. Immediately I left secondary school I joined a group. Then went to the university and here I am today still going,” he recalls.

Lewis’s life is not about acting alone. He was once a management guru. The intrepid celebrity admits that actors of those days were considered stars with little pay. As time went by in his career, his infatuation with acting began to wane when he started a family.

“In those days, there were lot of jobs around. We had a lot of popularity, we were stars but we didn’t make so much money. It was okay for me because I was still a bachelor. By the time I got married and started having children, I realized that beyond popularity, I needed something to sustain my family,” he says. “So, I branched off and started another career line in marketing management. I had worked in the biggest advertising and public relations companies in Nigeria. I worked in the bank and telecommunications”.

Surprisingly, while plying his trade in both public and private sectors, he did not walk away from his constituency because he knew he was coming back. “This is like a retirement for me. Acting is what I have done in the longest. So it is being profitable,” Lewis admits.

Blessed with adorable and beautiful

Lewis had once left the silver screen for the spiritual stage. He was ordained as an evangelist at International Church of Christ in Lagos. That course of life had taken him all over Africa including Muslim nations spreading gospel of salvation. How did he become an evangelist? “You know you sometimes feel you are Christians, live like a Christian then a day will come you meet a group of people who open up the Bible to you and you realise that a lot of things that you are doing are not right