Shawn Faqua: My faith has helped me manage fame | The Guardian Nigeria News

Shawn Faqua is an actor, producer, director, model and public speaker with over 80 movies and Tv shows to his name. He has been nominated for over 10 awards, including the African Movie Academy Award for Best Young Actor in 2014, Golden Movie Award for Golden Supporting Actor in 2017, and African Movie Viewer’s Choice Award for Best Actor in a Comedy in 2022. Faqua received a Certificate in Acting from the Nollywood Upgrade Training in affiliation with the Center for Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University in 2012. He also studied at Relativity School in Los Angeles in 2016. He is the founder of Riverbank Media, a production company with interests in media and advertising. In this interview with IJEOMA THOMAS-ODIA, he shares his mission to promote integrity and collaboration in the industry.

Share with us your sojourn into acting. What would you say prepared you for the craft?
My story is simply one of fate. I unknowingly walked into a venue where an open audition session had just rounded up and the director/producer who (I had no clue who he was at the time) saw me approaching proclaimed, ‘I’ve found my actor’. Life prepared me for the craft, but I still had to get proper professional training, as talent is never enough. As my father would say, ‘anything worth doing is worth doing well.’

You have featured in a Netflix, Prime Amazon and Africa Magic projects. How have these helped you evolve?
Apart from the fact that it feels great to have your work seen and appreciated globally, feedback from viewers can sometimes help inform on how believable each character is, or not. These global platforms are helping to shape not just my acting skills but also the narratives that come out of Africa, and I don’t believe we have scratched the surface yet.

What roles do you look forward to?
Roles that scare and challenge me, and those that can allow me transform and create or block out neural pathways. To be able to get out of character effortlessly and believably so, is every actor’s dream and aspiration, and the very height of craftsmanship. So, I am very much looking forward to playing a biopic next, playing with the idea of one already.

Do you feel any sort of semblance to Denzel Washington? If yes, apart from your innate ability to interpret any role, in what other way do you feel semblance?
Absolutely, apart from being an exceptional actor whom I admire so much, he is a man of strong Christian faith. He’s a man who expresses greatly his love for his family, and has mastered the art of keeping his personal life private.

Looking back on all your movie roles, is there anyone you wish you didn’t play?
None whatsoever! Every single film has helped shaped me to become a better actor on the journey to great self.

In films like The Woman King, our local and international actors are making us proud. Do you foresee more collaborative works between Nollywood and Hollywood?
There is so much of this to come. The African culture is very rich and diverse and has not been tapped to its fullness. Hollywood needs us, our stories dated centuries ago, one that makes for a compelling story. The black race history has to be one of the bestselling narratives, and just like “Wakanda” so definitely. The frequency will go up a notch, as is expected.

Your Christian faith is widely rumored in Nollywood. What is the significance of your faith to your movie career?
It has helped me tremendously not to lose my identity to the diverse roles that I have to embody, and the temptations that come with showbiz part of the film industry. My faith has helped me manage fame and the excesses that can tend to come with it.

What project are you currently working on and what more should we expect from you?
Currently working on a feature ‘Take My Breath Away’. It looks promising so far.

How would you define your style?
I am a classic man; I believe that style should be timeless to stay relevant through various times and seasons.

What does fashion mean to you?
Fashion means comfort. I would choose comfortable pieces any day anytime, as I am on the move always and I cannot afford to be saddled by the weight of clothing. I have to be able to move as swiftly as I desire.

What is your favourite outfit?
As a true representative of the African culture and heritage, my favourite outfits have to be white traditional ensembles. I feel divine in them always.

What is your favourite local dish?
Pounded yam and white soup or Afang soup. I relish this whenever I get the opportunity.

What key lessons have you gained so far?
Being intentionally kind, grateful and giving deserving people their flowers while they yet live. An accolade is more beautiful than a eulogy.

Describe Faqua in three words.
Intentional, compassionate, wise.

What are some unexpected hobbies you indulge in?
I love playing lawn tennis, soccer, and dance was my first love, still is.

What changes do you hope to see in the industry?
True African stories; we hold the power to how the world view our dear African continent, our culture is so diverse and rich and I believe untapped to its fullest potential. I am very excited about the synergy that is about to explode in terms of collaborations, Hollywood and Nollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood, and more ‘woods’ from around the world. We hope for more funding, more investors coming into film, we look forward to better equipment to work with, continued and progressive craftmanship from crew and cast which will lead to basically a plethora of intentional and fruitful body of works.

What is your philosophy of life?
What you give or sow is what you will reap, therefore give love and you will surely get it back in good measure. Love always wins.