May 30, 2026
By Benjamin Njoku
Film director and producer, Lancelot Imasuen has shared how he gave the late Nollywood actor Alex Ekubo his first role in the industry. Imasuen, who cast Ekubo while he was still in school, described the actor’s passing as “devastating and unbelievable.”
Recalling their first meeting in Surulere, Lagos, Imasuen said he was close to Ekubo’s father, who often allowed him to use their home as a filming location. Young Alex would watch the crew at work during those shoots. “That was how I gave him his first movie role, the one that ushered him into Nollywood,” Imasuen said.
He explained that they lived in the same neighborhood in Aguda, Surulere, before he moved to Lekki. At the time, Ekubo was in secondary school in the north but frequently visited Lagos. Whenever Imasuen was on set, Ekubo’s father offered their home for filming. “That was how Alex developed a passion for acting,” Imasuen said.
