Fuji House of Commotion star reveals how he wooed wife in Nigeria but got an answer in Japan

Actor, Kunle Bamtefa, of Fuji House of Commotion, in a new interview with PUNCH has revealed how he met his wifey, fell in love and more. See excerpts below:

I think it has paid off. But I don’t even
see life in terms of naira and kobo. I see life in terms of how many
people you have reached and the places you have been and the people you
know. By the grace of God, acting has taken me far beyond where I
thought I would go. Back then, we used to go for festivals all over the
world. We travelled to Japan, Germany, America and so many other places
to represent our country. Your country would give you diplomatic status.
What else would you want? You go out there on the streets and people
recognise you. The other day, I was coming back from the UK and at the
airport, I had wanted to pay for the trolley and the attendant refused
to collect the money. The money was so small but it meant a lot to me.
Some millionaires wouldn’t get the kind of treatment I get in this
country and even abroad. What a lot of people would pay through their
noses for, I get them for free. People show me love. But then, people
also show you hatred because some people don’t like your popularity.
Some of your close friends you hang out with may not really like you.
They would be saying, ‘is it only him?’ Anyway, acting has paid off.

Is it through hard work or sheer luck?

It has been both. Without luck, you
cannot really do anything. I was never the best person in my class. I
believe that there were more people who were better than me when I was
in the university. But they didn’t have the kind of opportunity I had to
blow up. In all things, we have to be thankful. I am happy doing what
I’m doing. I don’t have to worry for anything. Nobody will leave this
world alive. Why do you amass the wealth you cannot take with you when
you die?

And how did that opportunity to blow up come?

I would say it was through luck and who
you know. When you do this kind of thing, you must have some talent in
you. But talent can only take you a little far; it is only the training
that would push you. You have to know the technical aspect of it. You
cannot work with talent alone. My inborn talent made me to be recognised
quickly. I was always in place. I strove to do very well and it
resulted into sharpening my skill. I had no eye for anything else but my
art. I lost a few things and few friends. I even lost a girlfriend at
that time.

What happened?

I couldn’t go for her 21st birthday in
Ife because I was on stage. I couldn’t leave the production. We are not
married today. She is very successful today anyway. She was so angry and
people would always talk. They told her she was marking her birthday
and her boyfriend wasn’t around. She didn’t take it out on me at that
time. But boys would always be boys. I was focused on the job and we
were age mates then. You know if you are getting old, you would want to
do things quickly but I wasn’t ready at that time. I still wanted to
pursue my arts.

Your role in Fuji House of
Commotion may have made some people think you are only a comedy actor,
would you agree with such perception?

During the first Africa Magic Viewers
Choice Award, I was nominated as the Best Actor in Comedy category.
Somebody actually saw me and asked me how I felt being a comedian. I had
to cut the person short and I told him I wasn’t a comedian but an
actor. The thing was gaining ground that I couldn’t do anything else but
comedy. The problem was I had played in Fuji House for a long time. The
producer, the late Amaka Igwe, was very consistent. Amaka was the only
producer that I know who paid royalties. I started with Checkmate. I
believed in her dream. Some people accused me that I only worked with
Amaka Igwe. But I said it wasn’t true. If you give me a job and I feel I
should do it, I would do it. I was in Violated. I didn’t play a comic
role in that movie. A lot of people don’t see it that way. It was the
more reason I took a role in Emerald. I decided to take it. I played
‘Chief Fuji’ for a long time even in Checkmate and the spin of which was
‘Fuji House of Commotion.’ People thought that was the only thing I
could do. How many people saw me on stage in all the productions I did
for Yerima and Bayo Oduneye who by the way I believe is the greatest
teacher ever? I didn’t want to be pigeonholed but it was happening to
me. In Emerald, I am playing two roles of twin brothers.

It must be challenging?

It is challenging. Everything has to
change, the make-up, clothes and everything. The voice will also change.
I will see this soap through. I don’t abandon jobs like I said. I can
play all other roles.

As a handsome actor, ladies must have been flocking around you a lot…

I wasn’t married then. I had this girl
who was still a student who I ‘chased’ and she didn’t agree. I was the
lead dancer. I had been everywhere. I remember I was at Narita Airport
in Japan when I heard someone called my name and said I had a message. I
was wondering how it happened because I didn’t know anybody. When I
went to get the message, I received a note on a piece of paper and what
was written on it was that she had agreed for us to date. That is how I
wooed my wife in Nigeria and she accepted in Japan.

How?

Oh yes, she was on the show with us. We
had some students with us and some of us who had passed out were part of
the troupe that travelled for the show in Japan. She eventually
‘agreed’ and we took it from there. We are still together since then
after two boys.

So she agreed to marry an actor?

Of course she agreed; she is one herself.
She was studying Theatre Arts and I had finished at that time. What is
wrong with marrying an actor? We are in the same profession but one had
to go down for the sake of the children. When the kids had grown up, she
had to revive her career. There are a lot of areas in theatre that
don’t have to do with staying in front of the camera.

Didn’t you wish for a daughter?

I would have loved to have had my mother
back. My mum passed on when we were young. I was in England. She was
aged 56. She didn’t enjoy the fruit of her labour. She had cancer. I had
wished for a daughter first but I am fine. My boys are okay. They are
level headed. They are fantastic. I have not had cause to bail them out
from the police station. They live in England. You know it is not easy
to go through primary, secondary and even university education in
England without joining gangs and such things. But my boys are
wonderful. I am so proud of them. They never gave me any kind of
problem. The first one came back to Nigeria three years ago and said he
wanted to do his youth service programme. I was surprised. I asked him
how he got to know about national youth service because they had left
this country when they were less than 10 years old. But he insisted and I
allowed him. He wanted to stay back in Nigeria but he eventually went
back to England.