Nigerian actor Hanks Anuku, has opened up about the devastating effects he faced after a viral video erroneously portrayed him as mentally unstable.
He said after the video emerged in 2022 his career and other aspect of his personal life were ruined.
The video, which appeared on the internet in 2022, showed Anuku talking to himself and wearing shabby clothes, portraying the state of a madman. It raised many questions about his mental state of mind.
Shortly after the video’s emergence, Nollywood actress Shan George refuted the claims, asserting that Anuku was not mentally unstable.
Speaking to the issue in a recent interview with content creator Lucky Udu, Anuku clarified that the footage was from a movie set.
The actor explained that he was preparing for a movie role that required him to portray himself as a mentally unstable person.
He said he was only immersing himself in the environment to perfect his performance.
“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,” Hanks Anuku stated.
“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.”
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He refuted rumours that he was on drugs and not stable, stressing that he was very sane.
“They said a lot of stuff. They said I was sick, on drugs, I am not sick, I was not on drugs, maybe they saw me depressed, depression can bring stress. But me being on drugs, that’s not true: I am not a madman, I am very sane,” Hanks Anuku said.
The actor bemoaned the consequences of the video, saying it cost him his career, friendships, and job offers.
“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,” he shared.
Reflecting on the ordeal, Hanks Anuku expressed his heartbreak over the situation. “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.”
