Veteran Nollywood actor, Segun Arinze has finally opened up on why he decided to stop acting, saying being stereotyped as a ‘bad boy’ in movies messed with his psyche and mental health.
In a recent interview with media personality, Chude Jideonwo, Segun Arinze spoke on his experience as an actor.
Arinze discussed his success in the Nollywood film Silent Night (1996), which helped him become well-known for his depiction of Black Arrow.
However, he spoke about how portraying him as a bad guy in movies broke his mental health and made him give up acting.
There was a time I took a hiatus from acting when people were casting in that mould of a bad boy, bad boy and it began to affect my psyche and all that,” Arinze said.
Speaking further, Arinze opened up about his divorce from the popular actress, Anne Njemanze.
He said, “We got married in 1996. That was the period I acted in ‘Silent Night’, and she acted in ‘Domitila’. We were working at the same time, and in 1997, the marriage packed off.
“I stayed out of marriage after the first one crashed. I stayed for about 12 years before I remarried in 2008.”
The voice-over artist also stated that he did not feel pained when his daughter called him out in public for not wishing her a ‘happy birthday’, stating that he had put the episode behind him.
He said, “I have put that behind me. If you noticed, I did not respond to it.”