‘In Nollywood, people get roles based on their looks’

Nollywood actor, Sam Anyamele, never thought that film acting would become his primary means of livelihood someday. As a teenager, acting was just his favourite pastime.
The actor, in an interview with our correspondent , revealed that although his passion for the arts and entertainment was nurtured through music , by the time he had left secondary school his eyes were already fixed on starting a career in music .
He could play the guitar very well and had, at different times, had short stints with different music bands around Lagos, including the popular DKB band – well -known for backing up most of the popular musicians in the country.
Also , Anyamele used to play in Sammy Needle’ s band as a bass guitarist and backup singer .
Going down memory lane , he said , “ My contemporaries were people like Mike Aremu, Wole Oni and Kunle Odutayo. Wole , Kunle and I used to be in the same band. I have forgotten the name of the band,
“At a point, I wanted to join Femi Kuti ’ s Afrobeat band as a guitarist, but the Christian in me couldn’ t cope with the kind of lifestyles that members of the band led . I couldn’ t imagine myself performing on stage alongside half -naked female dancers.
“I just couldn’ t bring myself to play in such a band where people smoked a lot. I felt that, as a member of the Assemblies of God Church , I shouldn’ t be seen in that kind of company , ” he said. And that was long before he decided to focus on film acting .