Nollywood veteran Hanks Anuku has shared how a viral video that falsely portrayed him as mentally unstable negatively impacted his career and mental health.
In 2022, a disturbing video surfaced online showing Anuku dressed in tattered clothes and appearing to talk to himself. This sparked speculation about his mental stability. Despite a disclaimer from his colleague Shan George, many, including filmmaker Adanma Luke, insisted that Anuku was mentally unstable. This prompted the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) to launch an investigation into the matter.
Addressing the incident for the first time in a chat with content creator Lucky Udu, Anuku revealed that the video was from a movie set and was circulated by people trying to tarnish his reputation. He explained that he was preparing for a role as a madman, which required him to immerse himself in the environment to get into character.
“I was trying to get into character for a role I was going to play, a madman role. Someone who was not in his correct senses or right frame of mind,” Anuku said. “So I had to go naturally visit the environment on how I would play it in that same neighbourhood. I was just showing the way the director wanted me to do it, meditating and getting into character.”
He added that the video caused him personal pain, resulting in lost friendships and blacklisting by filmmakers. “I lost friends, producers no longer contacted me for jobs. I lost a lot of money, I lost jobs, and I was jobless. People did not care about me. It was God who directed my footsteps to a good soul,” Anuku said. “I went through pain, if you were in my shoes you would feel it. I was heartbroken for these people to do this to me.”
