"I was acting before Nollywood existed" — Pete Edochie recounts his journey in film

• Pete Edochie says he began acting on stage at age 15 in 1962.

• The veteran actor challenged claims that other actors are professionally senior to him.

• He said his career predates Nollywood and his screen breakthrough in Things Fall Apart.

Veteran actor Pete Edochie has pushed back against circulating claims, many of which have suggested they are senior to him in the Nigerian film industry, using a recent podcast appearance to lay out a career history that predates Nollywood by three decades.

Edochie appeared on Curiosity Made Me Ask, the online show hosted by comedian Isbae U, where he was asked about his standing in the industry and whether he accepted that some colleagues were senior to him professionally. His response was clear and straight to the point.

"By the time I did Merchant of Venice in 1962, I was 15 years. Then, there was nothing like film. It was all stage. Except you had Shakespeare in your head; you don't qualify to be on stage," he said, challenging anyone who disagreed to come forward publicly.

Edochie went further, referencing what he described as international recognition that no other Nigerian actor had received at the time.

"I'm the only person in this country who did a film and white people flew in to come and interview me. No other person has achieved it," he said.

He anchored his argument in the timeline of Nigerian cinema itself. Nollywood as an industry is widely traced to 1992, when Living in Bondage became one of the first commercially distributed Nigerian home videos. 

Edochie's screen career, however, began well before that, most notably with Things Fall Apart in 1985, an adaptation of Chinua Achebe's novel that earned him widespread recognition and the international attention he referenced.

His remarks came against the backdrop of a running conversation about seniority in Nollywood, with at least one fellow actor having publicly maintained on the same show that he began his acting career before Edochie, while still acknowledging him as a senior colleague in age. Edochie did not mention that actor or anyone else by name throughout his appearance.

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"People have been writing all sorts of nonsense claiming they are senior to Pete Edochie. I just allow them to, because anything goes in Lagos," he said, adding that he had chosen not to respond until directly asked.

He also pointed to honours he said arrived without lobbying, including national recognition under former President Olusegun Obasanjo and honorary doctorates delivered to his home by a Togolese university, as further evidence of a career that stands apart from his contemporaries.

"I sit down in my house, and the honours come," he said.

Edochie retired from a career as a Director of Programmes before entering the film industry full time, a detail he raised to underscore that his professional standing was established long before his first screen appearance.