‘I started acting before Nollywood was created’ - Pete Edochie

Veteran Nigerian actor Pete Edochie has declared that his acting career began long before the birth of Nollywood, challenging anyone who claims to be his senior in the profession to prove it.

Speaking in an interview on Curiosity Made Me Ask, the celebrated actor dismissed assertions that there are actors who preceded him in the industry, insisting his journey began on the stage in 1962 when he was just 15 years old.

“By the time I did Merchant of Venice in 1962, I was 15 years old. Then, there was nothing like film; they were all stage. Except you had Shakespeare in your head, you didn’t qualify to be on stage. Call any of them you know, let them come and challenge me,” he said.

If you kneel to propose marriage to a woman, you’re conceding headship to her - Pete Edochie

Pete Edochie maintained that he had already established himself as an actor years before the emergence of Nollywood.

“When I did Things Fall Apart, there was nothing like Nollywood. I did Things Fall Apart in 1985. Nollywood came on board in 1992 when they did Living in Bondage,” he stated.

The screen icon also claimed that he and South African actor John Kani were the only African actors recognised by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) after the studio evaluated filmmaking efforts across the continent.

“MGM evaluated filmmaking efforts of the continent of Africa and they said there are only two people who were recognised, Pete Edochie and John Kani of South Africa,” he claimed.

The veteran actor further boasted that he remains the only Nigerian actor whose performance attracted international media attention to the extent that foreign journalists travelled to Nigeria specifically to interview him.

“I am the only person in this country who did a film and white people flew in to come and interview me. No other person can achieve this. Let the person come out,” he added.

“I started acting before Nollywood was created in 1992. I first appeared in The Merchant of Venice in 1962 at the age of 15yo. I’m the only person who has done a film that made white people fly in to Nigeria just to interview me. Nobody has achieved that.”

—Pete Edochie pic.twitter.com/kP7blzxHGt

— carter🌚 (@carter8f) September 5, 2026