I DON’T KNOW IF NONSO DIOBI NURSES A GRUDGE AGAINST ME—YUL EDOCHIE

Even though Yul's father, Pete Edochie, was already well-established in the entertainment industry, the young talented and handsome dude wanted to be his own man and make his own name, not living under the shadows of his highly respected father.

So, he never stopped hustling till his breakthrough came in 2007 when he got his first big role in a movie ‘Wind of Glory’. He has acted in some films, including ‘To Live Again’, ‘His Royal Majesty’, ‘Prisoner of Love’, ‘My Loving Heart’, ‘The King and the Princess’, ‘Innocent Pain’, ‘Head of a Prince’, ‘Wisdom of the King’, ‘Save my King’, ‘His Royal Majesty’, ‘Haunted Shadows’, ‘Wisdom of the King’ and many more.

The movie was a huge success and it launched him into the scene. Rather than bask in the euphoria of the success the film made, Yul kept working hard, doing series of movies, thrilling his audience with his charisma, artistic skills eloquence, good diction and awesome deep voice, like his father.

Now, his career, as well as his fan base, has grown beyond bounds. Today, Yul Edochie is ranked as one of the most sought after and highest paid actors in Nollywood. He is also loved, respected and appreciated by many all over the world.

To Yul, he owes a huge part of his success story to his fellow actor, Nonso Diobi, but expressed worries that they no longer relate again like before, ostensibly due to their busy schedules.

In an interview with Nigeriafilms.com, the happily married father of three revealed what marriage at the age of 22 deprived him of. He also spoke on other sundry issues.

Celebs now go for crazy tattoos or body piercing, do you intend following the trend?

No! I don’t think I’ll ever go for tattoos. I was able to get here without tattoos, so I don’t need it. I will still go farther without it. You don’t scratch a Bentley. I did ear piercing long ago, when I just came into the industry. But I stopped putting earrings on it because I don’t know the message I’ll be passing to my kids in this old age f mine (laughs).
Musicians can tattoo their bodies all they want, but as an actor, I don’t need it. They need their voices to work, but we need our bodies, so why scratch it.

If you are to pick two sexy actresses for a lunch date, who would they be?

Hmm! Maybe I will think about it. They are not that bad though, but it’s not my thing. I just do my location jobs with them and that’s all. If I want to go on a lunch date, I’ll call my wife. I don’t want them (the actresses) to start thinking or feeling something else. Or you journalists to start painting pictures of what is not.

What is Yul into aside acting?

I’m also into property things but my wife is the one taking care of that aspect of our business. I do strictly movies because I really love this job so much. Right now, I am planning my own films. It hurts me to see lot of things go wrong in our movies today, and I feel the best way to correct them is by doing my own films.

When should your fans be expecting that?

Soon, very soon. I hope and pray it is going to be out before the end of this year, 2014.

Any plan on giving back to the society, through pet projects?

Right now, no! But honestly, I have that in mind.

Are you a jealous husband?

Of course, I am. Anybody who loves his or her spouse should be jealous. But the level of jealousy matters. If I haven’t married before I got into the industry, I won’t see anything wrong in marrying an actress knowing that we travel a lot and shoot some romantic scenes too. It’s just an understanding; when two people understand themselves very well, their marriage would work out.

How far can you go to protect your wife?

I can go very far, at any length to protect her. I love my wife so much. I can do anything and give up anything for her. She means the world to me. She was there when I had nothing. That is so hard to find these days. Girls of these days want a famous rich guy for husbands. I found her when I was nobody. She so much believed in me, even more than I believed myself. There were times when things weren’t working, I felt like giving up, but she was always there to encourage me. I can’t thank or love her enough.

Do you intend adding more to your three kids?

(Laughs). How many do you want me to have? Yes, my father had six of us and I took after him in so many ways, but I don’t intend having more than three kids. Looking at the present state of the country alone, the fear of the economy wouldn’t let you add more to the ones you already have. What I spend in a year running my family is almost same thing used to train the six of us throughout our university days. It is so crazy men! (laughs).

You and Nonso Diobi seems to be so close, what’s the connection?

Good question! Nonso has always been my very good friend. He really helped me a lot when I was coming up. Then I used to come from the East to Lagos, because he relocated to Lagos before me. I slept in his house a couple of times. He gave me shelter as a brother. He was always there to advise me on how to go about a couple of things.
However, these days, we are all busy trying to make a living and forgetting to keep in touch. But in all, I think we are still very good friends.

You think?

We are still as cool as we used to be, nothing went wrong. It is just tight schedules. If something went wrong, I am not aware because I can be very carefree. If someone offends me or pisses me off, I just tell them my mind and let it go. If anyone has anything against me, I am not aware of it. I still strongly believe that we are very cool as we used to be.
I respect Nonso Diobi. He helped me a lot. He got into the industry before me and also helped me to get up there. We also live in same environment in Lekki.

You got married at 22, after that did you miss bachelorhood?

At that point, I thought I really missed a lot. Whenever I hang out with my friends, just little time outside, I’ll start getting calls. My wife wants me home, there is no gas or some food stuffs and I have to go get them. At that time, it was really getting me pissed off. But with time, I got used to it. In general, I didn't really miss so much.

What was the biggest challenge you conquered to get this far?

The biggest fear and challenge was being successful, because I really wanted to show what I have got. The struggle wasn't easy. They were lots of talented actors there before me and I just had to carve a niche for myself. It wasn't easy at all. Some people had thought that I got to the industry with the influence of my father. They believed he paved way for me to take after him. But no! I really wanted to be an actor because I know I am good at it not because of my father. Making people believe in me was my biggest challenge.

What if your son decides to take after you too?

I don’t mind, at all, as long as he has the passion. I am not going to groom him to take over from me. I am only going to make sure they go to the best of schools. If any them want to be an actor, I can’t object. The choice is theirs. The movie industry is not an easy place to be, you will take some sh*ts, lots of insults, and what have you but what keeps you moving is the passion. They shouldn't do it for the money but for the passion.

As some point in 2006, I tried my hands in directing. After that two, I didn't see any movie to direct again. Those periods were the worse time of my career. The films weren't really coming. I was married and my wife just put to bed to our first child and there was no money. It was so tough that I had to try my hands in other things aside acting but i never gave up because I had the passion. I love my career.

What is your advice for the up and coming acts?

It takes time to get to the top. It also involves lots of hard work. Don’t rush. No rush in life. We are all still going to die someday. No matter how long you live in this life, you are still going to be dead longer than that, so why be so desperate. Whatever you are doing, do it for the passion and not the money. The money is going to come in due time. Even when the money starts coming, don’t just start increasing your fees because others are earning higher. Increase your output and your fees would automatically go up. Don’t hype yourself when you are nothing. Hard work pays and takes you to the next level.

What is your philosophy of life?

Do unto others the same way you want them to do unto you. I pray that there would be peace in this life, especially our country. We are all going to die some day, then why kill people like you are going to live forever. If you bomb houses and you hide, it is because you don’t want to be killed too, then why do it in the first place. Live and let’s live