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Frederick Leonard has established himself as one of the top guns in Nollywood by a dint of hard work, doggedness and sheer talent. He has been around for quite a while and sure knows his way around the industry. In this interview, he shares his thoughts on happenings in the movie industry, and how to make the industry a better place for all. By IYABO AINA Tell us the things we don’t know about you? I am from Nnewi local government area in Anambra State. I am a man who loves his mum dearly; she’s my first girlfriend, so every other lady should understand that and take the second spot. I am a hard worker, and a graduate of biochemistry from Kaduna Polytechnic. I’ve been engaged in modeling and a bit of acting. I went away for a couple of years because I needed to be sure if acting was what I really wanted to do. When I returned, I had to go in for more training, and I have been consistently doing this business for five straight years. Share with us your foray into the movie industry? A lot of people often ask me if I knew I would end up acting, and I say no; acting found me. I initially wanted to be a pilot. I definitely knew I didn’t want a 9-5 job because I am too ambitious. I love money and there is no way I could sit down and be collecting salary, so I knew I would need something flexible so that I could have my hands in a lot of pies at the same time. I wanted to go to aviation school, but one thing led to the other, and I couldn’t do that. While I was in school trying to sort that part of my life out, a family member took me to a place known as Winnies about 15 years ago where many actors used to hang out. I went there and saw what they were doing; the industry was pretty young at that time. I fell in love with the process and here we are. It wasn’t like something I planned out, divine guidance brought me here. Even when I came in, I prayed to God that I want to see signs and breakthroughs.   If   you   are   in   any   business   and   you   are   not   getting   some   kinds   of breakthroughs, that means you are not called to be there. I believe in signs! What does it take to be comfortable as an actor? Well, it takes a holistic approach. It boils down to structuring the industry in a way that everyone becomes a beneficiary of the dividend of their sector and that obviously starts from us, actors, producers, and other practitioners. We need to make sure that we have proper distribution; only then can Nollywood make more money. We can then think of how to get rich, but for now, we are just comfortable and law-abiding citizens. The business for now hasn’t gotten us rich; what it has done so far is to make us comfortable.