Elozonam Ogbolu on BBNaija, playing nice and his role in E.V.E.

Ex-Big Brother Naija housemate Elozonam Ogbolu recently joined the cast of Africa Magic legal series E.V.E. The show, which also streams on Showmax, tells the story of Ezinne, a young lawyer who navigates her way through a top Lagos law firm while also dealing with family challenges.

Elozonam plays Banjo Harris, the cocky son of the late Mr Harris, a partner in Ezinne’s former law firm. We had a chat with him on his role on the show and life after the Big Brother house, as well as projects with his fellow housemates.

What was it that made you decide to take up the role of Banjo Harris?

I knew about E.V.E. but I hadn’t really watched it. When the opportunity came for me to play Banjo, I read the script and the character was pretty much an obnoxious guy. He was also cocky, witty and smart, and I thought that this would be an interesting character to play and that’s why I took up the role. Plus, it was work, so that was a no-brainer!

Can you relate to Banjo as Elo?

Looking at the character, I thought it was me but then, not totally me. Like, I’m not totally obnoxious; I think all of that goes on in my head as opposed to being my personality. But he’s funny, he’s witty and I like to think that I’m funny and I have wit, so that’s the extent that I see myself in Banjo.

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Did you consider shooting for television more challenging than movies?

I think they’re similar. For E.V.E. I don’t appear as often as the rest of the characters. Some people had to shoot every day, but this wasn’t the case with me. I only went [in] like two or three times a week. I’ve been on a movie set every day for two weeks so I think it depends on what role I’m playing and how often the character appears in whatever it is I’m shooting. Movies tend to demand more from you in terms of your performance as an actor.

Did you go back to your advertising job after the Big Brother House?

I had quit my 9-5 job in August 2018, and I got into the BBNaija house in July 2019 so it had almost been a full year. After I left my 9-5, I was doing basically the same thing, which was creating radio ads and TV commercials, only this time I was doing it for myself. I’m still doing it because I like advertising. It’s fun work and now I’m just trying to do more with the opportunity I’ve been given.

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What do you like the most and least about being an ex-Big Brother Naija housemate?

What I like the most is the exposure. You can walk into a room and people will listen to you because they know who you are. They can’t say you’re a fraud; they’ll listen to you speak. Or you go out and people say hi. Sometimes it’s actually quite nice. But what I like the least is the dragging and the social media back-and-forth.

You have had it mostly easy with the dragging. Are you trying to play things nice?

I’m not trying to play it nice; I feel like this is who I am. I’m always conscious about who’s going to hurt and the only reason I’m on social media is to spread joy and entertain people. I don’t like negative stuff and that’s why I might not get dragged because I’m not that guy. I’m all about spreading positivity and entertaining people. I don’t get too involved in controversial topics, I have an opinion but I’ll only share it when necessary. I’m not making an effort to be politically correct, it’s just who I am.

Your mum, Nkoli Ogbolu, is an advertising guru. Would you say that being her son influenced your career?

Yes. My brothers and I learnt a lot from my mum. My dad is a numbers guy; he’s a finance guy but my mum is a creative. So just in general, conversations with our mum, things drop here and there, and when it was time for us to go out and make our way in the world, we landed in advertising – all three of us. So my mum is very responsible for my creative career. Do you know how they say children get a certain percentage of their intelligence from their mums? I think that’s what happened to us: all of us got everything from our mum.

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So anyone who follows you on Instagram has probably seen the skits you do with your brothers. Would you rather act, rap, script or direct?

That’s a very difficult question. Let me put it this way: I like to direct the things I act in. I write scripts but not very often. I can write scripts, but to be honest, that’s not my strength. Ideation is my strength and I can get a scriptwriter to script it out because I don’t believe in doing everything myself. I like to act. It’s fun work but I also like to have some creative control over what I do, which is directing and then post-production. So I’d say acting, top priority, before directing and post-production.

Would you consider doing music professionally?

I don’t know if I have the stones for it. I don’t want to do music professionally to the extent that it becomes work. For me, making music is something I enjoy because it’s fun. I’m not trying to be Nigerian or create my music to fit certain rules, I’m just trying to express myself, however it comes. But as soon as it becomes a job or career you have to be very mindful of certain things, like your target audience, and I don’t want to be confined to any type of box.

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If you had to produce a movie with your ex-housemates, who would you cast in a starring role and who would direct it?

Funny you ask because I’m currently working on something like that. I would cast Venita to be the lead actress and I would be the male lead obviously. I’d cast Venita because she’s actually a fantastic actress and pretty good to work with. She’s also versatile. I wouldn’t cast her in just any project; it would have to be something that has depth. Another person I would cast would be Seyi because he can interpret roles. These are two people I’ve seriously been considering working with in terms of acting. Also Enkay, she’s actually pretty good. She can be extra but when you get her to settle down, it’s a go. Probably Frodd and maybe Sir Dee too. I’ve done something with Frodd before and he came correct. I would act and direct. 

So any projects your fans can look out for with your ex-housemates?

Because of the pandemic I’ve had to put a pause on the web series I’d been working on. I’d created season one, WTF, which was supposed to be a test run. It was a dark comedy but it was really ridiculous. I’ve been drafting the second season. The script is ready and it’s down to cast but I only know Venita is going to be in it, probably Seyi and that’s why I gave the previous answer to the question on who I’d cast in my production. So that’s it at the moment, and I know we’ll definitely get it done.

Catch Elozonam in E.V.E. and in the Big Brother Pepper Dem Reunion on Showmax.