The National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Emeka Rollas, has confirmed the death of Nollywood actor, John Paul Odonwodo, popularly known as Junior Pope.
The late actor and three of his colleagues were coming back from a movie location in a boat when they fell into Anam River in Anambra on Wednesday. Rollas took to his instagram page on Thursday to disclose the sad development as he wrote, “It is so so sad that our joy was shortlived. “My first post was out of excitement when we noticed his tingling fingers. Two notable hospitals tried their best to revive him but to no avail. “God knows the best. We finally lost him. Mr Friday’s corpse has been identified but three other corpses are yet to be found. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Junior Pope, in 2006, joined the Nollywood industry and started attending movie auditions and acting as a minor character in movies. He usually played the role of a bodyguard, palace attendant, and servant in movies. In 2007, he rose to fame after acting in the Nollywood blockbuster movie “Secret Adventures”, a movie directed by Tchidi Chikere. He acted in more than 150 Nollywood movies which include: “Secret Adventures”, “Mad sex”, “Bitter Generation”, “Vengeance of Bullet”, “The Cat”, “The Generals”, “Wrong Initiation” among others. In 2010, he won the award for Nollywood Most Promising Actor in Nigeria at the Entertainment Factory Awards. He is known for acting criminal, villain, armed robber, militant and hitman roles in movies alongside Emma Ehumadu, Sylvester Madu, Zubby Michael, Jim Iyke, Alaso Wariboko, Gentle Jack, Hanks Anuku, Jerry Amilo. Other awards he won include Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards and Best Actor of the Year at the Africa Movie Academy Awards among others.
Meanwhile, the Guild has declared Thursday as “No Shoot Day” for all Nollywood filmmakers, following the death of actor Junior Pope and three other crew members who died in a boat mishap on Anam River in Anambra on Wednesday. Emeka Rollas, National President of AGN, in a statement on Thursday said that this happened on a movie set titled ‘’The other side of Life’’, produced by Adamma Luke. “Following the tragic incident of a boat mishap that claimed the life of Junior Pope and three other crew members at waterside of River Niger Cable point Asaba on 10th of April, all films that involve riverine areas and boat riding is hereby suspended indefinitely. “No Shoot on all locations nationwide on Thursday, 11th April 2024 and the film titled “The other side of Life” is suspended indefinitely. “Also, no actor is allowed to work with Adamma Luke as a producer till further notice, while we keep searching for the bodies of the remaining persons. “May their souls rest in peace,” he said.
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