Nollywood has always been known for typecasting certain movie stars and keeping them stuck in a particular type of role that prevents them from exploring something new. Even if this comes with its disadvantages, it also has its benefits, including actors becoming masters of certain roles that their name immediately comes to mind when there is a need for such character.
As far as villain-acting is concerned, specific names are known for it and they keep getting called to play such roles because they are absolutely amazing at interpreting it. Want to know actors that fall into this category? See Best Nollywood Villain-Actors (2022).
1. Chiwetalu Agu:
Born in 1956, it is very clear that this Nollywood legend was born to act. However, Chiwetalu Agu is not one to just focus on interpreting roles in movies, he has a unique style as well. This movie star is popular for his usage of interesting slangs, phrases or clichés that get stuck in the mind of viewers long after the movie ends.
He is popular for being one of the actors who have contributed to the development of Nollywood comic genre and he is currently married to Nkechi, who has given him three sons and two daughters. Agu has always been a versatile actor and he proved it when he transitioned from being a regular feature in Nigerian TV soaps to acting in major Nollywood movies.
He played memorable roles in popular soaps like “Baby Come Now” and “Ripples” produced by Chico Ejiro’s brother, Zeb. He then went on to win the “Best Actor In An Indigenous Movie: Non-English Speaking Language” award for his role in “Nkwocha.”
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When we have seen the best of Chiwetalu on screen, however, is whenever he plays the villain role. He is basically a domestic villain who always gets the reward he deserves before the movie ends. If he is not stealing his brother’s land, he is stealing his friend’s wife. Movie lovers still find a way to love despite his evil ways though because of his hilarious banters and trademark Igbo proverbs in most of his scenes. This makes it so hard for Nollywood fans to not love him despite hating his attitude and actions in movies.
2. Clem Ohameze:
This popular Nollywood actor has 2 decades experience in the industry, and he actually started his professional career in 1995. His breakthrough role happened in 1998 when he starred in a very successful movie titled “Endtime.” The film blew up massively in the country and it led to Clem featuring in more than 500 movies since that time.
The movie star was born on the 27th of June 1965 in Port Harcourt and he attended Holy Family College/ Baptist High School for his secondary education. He later studied at the Institute of Management Technology, Enugu, Nigeria, where he obtained an Ordinary National Diploma in Mass Communication before earning a BSc in Sociology and Anthropology from the University of Port Harcourt in 1989. Clem Ohameze also has a master in Preventive and Social Medicine and he got it after years of study at Buckingham University, London in 2010.
The actor is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, and despite quitting the group between 2006 and 2010 to pursue a career in politics, he has since returned to the movie industry after his long break. In 2010, the actor featured in the award-winning movie titled “Ije: The Journey,” and it starred heavyweights like Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade Ekeinde.
His political career started when he decided to represent Ohaji-Egbema-Oguta Federal Constituency in Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2007. However, he abandoned politics after a few threats to his life, including an attack on his car that took his cousin’s life. This made him relocate to London to reflect on what next.
He is known to play villain roles perfectly in Nollywood as he is popular for being the face of cults in Nigerian movies. In most of his films, Clem is either trying to get initiated, weighing up the merits and demerits of rituals or killing his family members for money.
3. Eucharia Anunobi:
Born in Owerri, Imo State, Eucharia Anunobi wrapped up her primary and secondary school education in Imo before heading to the Institute of Management Technology, Enugu to earn a National Diploma in Mass Communication. The legendary actress also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree after studying English Language at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and she stormed the Nollywood industry for her role in the popular series, “Glamour Girls” in 1994.
Since the success of that movie, Eucharia has featured in more than 90 movies including “Abuja Connection” and “Letters to a Stranger.” She is not really known to majorly play the role of villains in Nollywood movies, but whenever she does, Eucharia just knows how to serve those looks. When this amazing actress flaunts her extra thin brows, full hair and interesting eye-shadows while interpreting such roles, she is nothing but the Nigerian version of Helena Boham-Carter in Harry Potter.
Anunobi did not get to keep serving those mean looks for long, however, because she quit Nollywood and decided to focus on her life as an evangelist at a church in Egbeda, Lagos State. Be aware that this was after her only son, Raymond, who she had always called her best friend, died of complications arising from sickle cell anaemia on August 22, 2017.
This is not to say that Eucharia does not appear on our screens once in a while, she does, but she watches the roles she plays nowadays. Her very few lists of movies since 2017 are “Small Chops (2020),” “Our Jesus Story (2020),” and “The Foreigner’s God (2018)”
4. Kanayo O. Kanayo:
Another household name that absolutely nails the wicked man role in Nollywood movies is Kanayo O. Kanayo. He is a native of Nru Umueze Oboama Ezinihitte in Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State and he was raised in Aba, Abia State. Kanayo attended St. Joseph primary school, had his secondary education at Secondary Technical School, Aba and got a diploma in Mass Communication, a diploma in Law and a graduate degree in philosophy from the University of Lagos.
This Nollywood legend also obtained a master’s degree in Political Sciences while earning a law degree from the University of Abuja in 2018, before getting called to the Nigerian Bar in 2020. With the several degrees in his possession, one would think they would prevent him from pursuing his acting passion, it did not.
Kanayo began his acting career in 1982, featuring in projects produced by the Nigerian Television Authority. He made his debut in popular Nollywood movie titled “Living in Bondage,” and since then, he has featured in more than 100 movies to seal his legacy in the Nigerian film industry. His latest projects are “Up North” and “Living in Bondage: Breaking Free,” but they came after he contested for the chair of Imo State House of Representatives in 2011. Losing that election, Kanayo O. Kanayo contested for representative of Ahiazu/Ezinihitte Mbaise in the Federal House Of Representative under the political party APGA again, he lost that too.
While he might not be a successful politician, he is surely a successful Nollywood star who captured hearts all over the country while playing several roles as a villain on our TV screens. His only goal in most movies is making money by all means. He never wastes time killing anyone killable to achieve his ritual goals, and while many hated him for it, many also praised him for making such evil roles realistic enough. He definitely faced the consequences for his bad actions in all of these movies, but a good consequence was always waiting once the movie is over, popularity and respect for his acting talents.
5. Patience Ozokwo:
Don’t let her wicked roles in movies deceive you, Patience Ozokwo is a good woman that is worthy of emulation. This movie star is not just a Nollywood actress, she is also a gospel singer, fashion designer and mother. Known as Mama G, she actually started acting in 1999, but became one of the most sought-after actresses in the 2000s due to her amazing role interpretation, especially when acting as a wicked mother or inlaw.
Patience Ozokwo just loves flaunting wickedness in most of the movies she has acted in, and she actually played the evil roles so well that many felt it was her nature in real life. They were so wrong though because this Nollywood legend is actually a believer who should serve as a role model to many for her courage and strength to cope with life issues she battled with in the past and keep chasing her acting dreams, even at an advanced age.
Getting married at the tender age of 19, the movie star lost her husband to the cold hands of death in 2000, a reality she struggled to bounce back from for a while. She, however, picked herself up eventually and focused on her career, while taking care of her three children at the same time. Patience began acting in a soap opera by Nigerian Television Authorities (NTA) titled “Someone’s Care,” in 1999 before her most busy period as an actress in the 2000s.
As far as playing the villain role is concerned, Patience Ozokwo is a queen at it. She plays such roles with a particular kind of flavour that we are not used to, and her stares, eye rolls, wicked laugh will go down in history as the height of evil on Nigerian TV. She is the exact opposite of evil in real life though.
