Nigeria is well known for many things, and among these is the country’s talented actors. Nigerian actors are famous not only in Africa but worldwide as well. This can be evidenced by James Jibunma popularly known with hashtag ”Actor with Grace,and Model with Poise”. A super talented commercial model and actor. As a model, he was the face of the MTN Double Data #TurnItUp Outdoor campaign which the telecommunications giants rolled out across 36 states and Abuja and he has appeared in such sitcoms where he played such characters as Jayson in MNET’s ‘Battleground,’ Ralphonthebeat in ‘Cirqus World’s House 31,’ ‘Island in Mnet’s ‘Tinsel’ and Segun OBO in Scene One Production’s ‘Jenifa’s Diary.’ He was also Martins in Dope 7 Media’s ‘Broken Vessel’ and Nonso in Wale Adenuga’s ‘Super Story (Rosanna).’
He was also the lead model in the hilarious and creatively executed Nivea Roll-on Commercial which featured Beverly Naya Also the Co-founder AFRICA Youth and Talent Summit (AYTS). He is no other actor than the highly-spirited James Jibunma.
Early Stage
James hails from Ubulu Uno in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State. From a very young age, James has always been fascinated with the television and that has reflected in his dream of acting. Nevertheless, in his countless interviews, he has always explained that certain individuals were instrumental in driving him to make that decision: “My love for the arts started in secondary school when we had to choose between the sciences, arts or social sciences. My then literature teacher, Mrs. Nwawo of blessed memory was a very dramatic teacher. She dramatized the poems and the plays she thought. I emerged one of her best and favorite students. Since then, I found love for the arts,” he reminisced.
“My decision to go into acting was purely borne out of passion for television and the impact from the experiments in secondary school. I grew up seeing people marvel and replicate the things they saw on tv. It caught my attention and I desired to be on screen. So, I the choice of Theatre Arts for course of study came naturally to me,” he added.
To bring his dream to reality, JJ attended the Lagos State University, LASU, where he studied Theatre Arts and Music. From then to his first role, it has been a rollercoaster. Reminiscing on that phase of life and his first role, he said, “Up until I grabbed my first role, I didn’t know that they paid actors. I thought actors pay to act. Lol As some people actually did pay to act. My first role professionally shocked me when I was told a fee I was going to get rather than I was going to pay.”
Career
His first acting experience was in 2010, in AK Media’s ‘Family Ties’ where he played Mike Olayanju. Narrating the takeoff of his now growing career, JJ recalls: “I got a job at a cyber cafe where I worked for 4,000 per month. From there I got some money with which I attended auditions, not too long after, I grabbed my first role 2010.”
He has gone on to feature number of Nollywood movies, some of which include the award-winning ‘Suga Rush,’ Papa’s Gone Mad,’ ‘The Therapist,’ ‘Alicia,’ ‘When Lemons Come,’ ‘April,’ ‘The Twist,’ ‘Over and Over Again,’ ‘Untamed’ and others.
Currently, he stars in one of Africa Magic’s biggest TV programme, ‘EVE,’ where he plays the role of Peter Ezenwa. He also stars as Osareme Osagie in Oasis TV drama produced by Apreel Ventures, ‘The Incubator.’
His fledging modelling career has seen him grace several billboards and television commercials for major brands across the nation and the continent at large such as MTN, Pepsi, Nivea, Dangote Pasta, UNICAF, May & Baker’s- Malact amongst many others.
He is currently one of the Brand Ambassadors for Lucky Bet Nigeria, representing the brand as a unique identity referred to as Mr Lucky.
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