The emergence of Abuja boy and Nollywood rave of the moment Daniel K. Daniel as Best Male Actor in a drama, at the 2016 AMVCA has been greeted with joy and positive reactions by movie watchers.
The announcement at the event
of March 5 by Kate Henshaw, alongside RMD was simple and short: " And the
winner is.... (silence, followed by a prestige pause)....DKD!". But the
famous pair that presented that high-point award of the night could not hide
their excitement. Neither could the audience, and the conference hall in Eko
Hotel, Lagos erupted in spontaneous approval. A group of young men
spontaneously arose and almost carried him to the stage. They could have passed
for friends and relations, but, alas, all but one turned out to be jubilant
fans that could not hold back their excitement.
This scenario was clearly
different from every other award presentation of that glamorous night.
DKD was obviously a favourite
of movie watchers.
But the handsome young man
draws the curiosity of some. He appears to have quietly, smoothly and
effortlessly moved into the industry, and in next to no time, rose to
stardom. How did this happen?
His unique acting style,
versatility and ability to interprete diverse roles appear to be some of his
strengths. His delivery of the BossMan role(a rebel leader) in the award
winning film "A Soldier's Story" is a good example, and earned him
the AMVCA award.
Some earlier movies that
reveal this giftedness include ‘Ladies Men’, ‘Under’ which was filmed in Ghana, ‘Paint My Life’, ‘Tempest’, ‘Lions of 76’, ‘Jujuwood’, ‘Body of the King’, ‘Book of Magic’, ‘Mummy Dearest’, 'A Long Night', 'Bambitious', 'Devil in Red',
'Fearless Lions', 'Chimobi', 'Dise's Secrets', 'Save A Life', 'Amiable', AMBO4
(Amstel Malta Box Office) Movie - "THE CHILD", BBC Movie -
"Sarah's Choice", MNET Movies - "Same Difference",
"Perfectly Flawed","MatchMaker", "Girl" and
"I'm Audrey".
He also starred in the
EbonyLife TV Comedy Series - "Madam Sarah's House".
It is therefore, not
surprising that, in quick succession, Daniel K Daniel (or DKD as he's
popularly known), bagged awards locally and internationally, before the AMVCA.
In 2014, Daniel was
nominated for two movie awards and He won both: The City People award for
"Best New Actor" and The Best of Nollywood Award for "Revelation
of the Year".
In 2015, he won the award for
"Best Upcoming Actor" in the AFRIFIMO Awards held in Maryland USA.
Nevertheless, being nominated
for Africa's biggest industry honour came to Daniel as a surprise. Said he,
"I honestly did not expect this nomination. I was totally, totally
thrilled. I mean, some of the nominees in my category are my own favourite
actors, great stage personalities."
True to DKD'S confession, the
Best Male Actor in a drama category was a star-studded list that made him feel
almost like an underdog: Mike Ezuruonye, Majid Michel, Daniel K. Daniel, Van
Vicker, Segun Arinze and Blossom Chukwujekwu.
And, when the votes were
counted, DKD won!
Who is this reigning best
male actor in Africa?
We gather he is Maiduguri -
born, Abuja - raised. An indigene of Nenwe in Aninri LGA, Enugu State, he
graduated from Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, with a Bsc in Biochemistry. His
plans to set up business were put aside after fate brought him into the movie
industry, by what one may describe as a good accident of destiny.
He talks about this with a
smile: "I accompanied a friend to a casting meeting in Abuja. The producer
pushed a script into my hand and asked me to read. I protested, saying I wasn't
'one of them', and didn't come for that. When he insisted and I was beginning
to look rude, I read the first few lines. Then he stopped me. He asked me my
name. Off-handedly, I said 'Daniel Daniel'. 'I mean, .... your real name. Is
that what your parents named you?'. 'Yes, Sir, Daniel K Daniel'.
He looked up at me, and
almost scolded 'You already have a stage name, and you say you're not an
actor!?'
"I had to show him my
driver's licence to prove that I was telling the truth. Funny!"
And so Daniel got his first
role, instantly, and has, since then become unstoppable.
Asked to share some of his
success secrets, DKD says, "I am a product of grace. God's grace cannot be
explained....And for that reason, I give myself totally to every script and
every act. I research and do all I can to deliver the character as conceived by
my producer/director. Role interpretation is key. I value every member of the
cast and crew because it's a together thing. And you know, as they say, team is
an acronym for 'Together Everyone Achieves More.'
And he reiterates, as he announced
while displaying the trophy, "The AMVCA 2016 Best Male Actor award is for
all my fans, wherever they are!"
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