Premiering on Sunday with a theme that conveys the movie’s Northern DNA, Tope Oshin’s Up North is barely two weeks from hitting cinemas. Its male lead Banky W, who is gradually establishing himself as a bankable actor (excuse the pun), has just revealed in an exclusive interview with Pulse how he endured pains during the filming of the movie, set in Bauchi.
“So, many people may not realise this but I think about a month before we started filming, I finally got an okay from the doctor to start a light workout and on my first day of work out, my scar from surgery actually opened up and started bleeding again, so I had to go back and get it a little bit touched up and take a break again and start even lighter than I started before,” he said. “So all of that running around and being punished by the soldiers, I mean I was on pain killers the whole time we were shooting because it was just tremendously exhausting but I think that some of the most rewarding things that you do in life are also the most difficult, so with this film, all of that work and energy and just everything they took out of me to deliver that role ended up becoming the most fulfilling and rewarding roles that I have ever done.”
Last year, if you recall, Banky was hospitalised to treat skin cancer that last reoccurred ten years ago. After a successful surgery, he flooded his Instagram with pictures and a lengthy message appreciating the support he received during his recuperation. When asked about his decision to take up the lead role, he responded: “The minute I read the script, I knew instantly that it was a role that I had to play. I knew that there was a story that had to be told. I was completely blown away by how encompassing the script was because it’s a story about finding love between a man and a woman, it is a story about finding yourself, it’s a story about coming of age. But it’s also a story about Nigeria and our strength, with our people from different tribes coming together.”
Starring Adesua Etomi, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Michelle Dede, Akin Lewis, Rahama Sadau, Ibrahim Onimisi Suleiman and a cameo from the incumbent governor of Bauchi, Up North hits cinemas December 28.
When Bernard Dayo isn’t writing about pop culture, he’s watching horror movies and reading comics and trying to pretend his addiction to Netflix isn’t a serious condition.
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