Nollywood actor Jim Iyke has opened up about his early years, revealing the emotional cost of choosing passion over parental expectation.
The actor described how standing firm in his decision to pursue acting at just 18 led to him being kicked out of his father’s house in an interview with Chude Jideonwo monitored by MyNewsGh.
“You finished university at 18, and your father wanted you to be a lawyer,” Chude recalled.
Jim replied, “Yes. Amongst bro, you don’t want to see the master plan he had for me. I told him no, and the price for that was being kicked out of the house.”
Jim admitted his defiance was not initially rooted in foresight but in a need to claim personal agency.
“I wasn’t doing it because I saw the future. I just wanted to rebel. Everything I’d done in my life was for him. I didn’t see my dream. I didn’t see my purpose in it,” he said.
According to the actor, his father’s disappointment was fueled by fear and practicality.
“He came as a typical parent to impose an idea: ‘You must do this, or you’ll waste your life.’ But I just wanted a chance to fail and rise again by myself,” he noted.
Looking back, Jim sees his decision as pivotal to his growth.
“It’s dangerous to keep a roadmap of a child. Sometimes you must let them fail forward. That’s where courage is born,” he added.
