By Benjamin Njoku
Film director and producer, Lancelot Imasuen has shared how he gave the late Nollywood actor Alex Ekubo his first role in the industry. Imasuen, who cast Ekubo while he was still in school, described the actor’s passing as “devastating and unbelievable.”
Recalling their first meeting in Surulere, Lagos, Imasuen said he was close to Ekubo’s father, who often allowed him to use their home as a filming location. Young Alex would watch the crew at work during those shoots. “That was how I gave him his first movie role, the one that ushered him into Nollywood,” Imasuen said.
He explained that they lived in the same neighborhood in Aguda, Surulere, before he moved to Lekki. At the time, Ekubo was in secondary school in the north but frequently visited Lagos. Whenever Imasuen was on set, Ekubo’s father offered their home for filming. “That was how Alex developed a passion for acting,” Imasuen said.
During a shoot around 2003/2004 featuring the late Justus Esiri, Ngozi Ezeonu, Empress Njamah, Charles Inojie, Charles Awurum, and others, Imasuen said he needed someone for a small role and turned to Alex.
“You’ve always been watching us. You’re going to start acting today,” he told him. Ekubo accepted, performed well, and was paid his first acting fee. After filming, Imasuen learned that Ekubo had gained admission to the University of Calabar and had returned to school. He gave the fee to Ekubo’s mother.
“She was excited that her son had earned his first fee from acting,” he recalled. “That was how Alex’s journey into Nollywood began in earnest.”
When Ekubo returned to Lagos, he thanked Imasuen for the payment. While in school, he also pursued modeling and competed in the Mr Nigeria pageant, further advancing his career in entertainment.
Late Alex Ekubo will be laid to rest on June 18, in his home town, Arochukwu, Abia State,
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