ACTOR INTERVIEW: Interview with Hakeem Kae-Kazim
Please give a concise autobiography of yourself?
I trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre school my first professional engagement was at the Royal Shakespere company my first TV was for the BBC and my first feature film I think was a film I did starring Naveem Andrews and Kim Cattrell
Explain one creative choice you took on set during the Last Flight to Abuja
Hard to say as one makes so many creative choices as an actor but maybe the one from the director was where I talk to myself as we are about to crash. Oh I still haven’t seen the finished movie yet so I am not sure what remains in and what went on the cutting room floor.
How would you describe acting? What is the most memorable screen character you have played
Acting for me is a passion I love it! It is a wonderful art form that borders on the spiritual and the more I do the more I learn. The most memorable screen character for me to date I think is ‘George Ruttagunda’ from Hotel Rwanda
Do you get offers from other film industries like Hollywood, and Bollywood
Well funny you should ask that I have just potentially been offered something from Bollywood which and that would be a first for me shows how global the film world is. I am very excited about this if it comes off. And I get offers here in Hollywood for the odd film and TV but want so much more.
What do you think it takes to get Hollywood, Bollywood to recruit Nollywood actors
Improving the skills of Nollywood actors and productions will be a good place to start but for me it is more important to build our own industry and employ our own tell our own stories as both Hollywood and Bollywood are doing, as is Nollywood, which has the potential to be as big and professional as both the other two industries.
Did You ever at anytime study acting? Or How did you get into acting
Yes as I mentioned I studied at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre school in the UK.
What do you want from a director during a production
Depends on what sort of a director he/she is but for me I want a director that either leaves me alone as he trusts what I can bring or someone who understands actors and there process and knows how to communicate with them.
Do you operate on instincts or do you have a technique when you act
I think I am instinctual as an actor. I have to feel it and totally believe in the situation, understand who the character I am playing is totally form the inside out.
What things/situation helps your character on a film set
If I am at one with who I am playing then anything and everything can help.
When you are offered a role, what is the next thing you do? Do you read the script many times, or once. Do you like taking direction from a director or do you rehearse several times?
I start to internalize who the character I am playing is. I tend to read the script once, then re-read it several times more.
How do you take a character in a script to a honest, believable and breathing person
By understanding where the character is coming from, know who he is, why he thinks the way he does, and understanding his humanity.
What acting technique do you use, if you use any
I would say I am closer to being a method actor, but I don’t really consciously say this is the technique I am using!
Hakeem Kae-Kazim acted in Hotel Rwanda as ‘George Rutaganda’, as ‘Awolowa Odusami’ in The Fourth Kind, as Erasmus in The Front Line, as Dede in Black Gold, as Ade in Man on Ground, as Captain Jack Tobamke in Attack on Dafur, as Jomo in Critical Assignment, as Youssef in Human Cargo, as Twala in King Solomon’s Mines
