Segun Arinze Recounts Memories of His Acting Career

Veteran actor Segun Arinze, who treasured memories of how his acting career began, has revealed how he earned his first N1,000 in 1987, at the age of 21. 

The actor claimed he earned money from a voice-over job he got from ace and renowned broadcaster Soni Irabor. 

The actor, who shared the narrative of his debut into the voice-over industry, revealed that Irabor introduced him to voice acting. 

 

During a recent interview with Biola Bayo on the 'TalktoB' podcast, Arinze, who began his career as a musician, fondly remembered being paid N1,000 for his first voice-over assignment in the late 1980s. 

Soni Irabor walked in one day and said he was looking for a voice-over artiste. There was nobody around that day then he heard me speak,” he said. 

“Then, he asked, ‘You can do the voice, really?" I cannot, he said ‘Yes, you can and I will see what you do." I did the voice-over. He paid me N1000. That was 1987. N1000 for just doing (voice-over). I said this is big. Colored TV was N500 at that time.” 

The actor, originally named Segun Aina, disclosed that he chose the stage name ‘Segun Arinze’ in 1991 during the early days of his music career. 

He also revealed that his father was against him studying performing art at the university as he wanted him to become a lawyer.