I noticed you have not done a piece on your boy William Benson
Online inlaws coming at me this morning so I say let me quickly do something before I am labelled with a name wey no be my own
I hear William killed it in my distant cousin Kemi Adetiba’s To Kill a Monkey.
The only reason why I have not sent in a review is cos I have not watched it
Teasers that I have seen have shown William in a powerfully bone-shaking, jaw-dropping, electrifying performance
The intensity of that one minute held me down and reverberated with me much more than the one hour I would spend ogling at another actor and still not getting the lift needed from an extremely perfect performance
Welcome to William and I must say most of u came to this party late cos we have always been blessed by his sophomore performance
As you know, I’ve worked with him for over seven years and have watched him work very closely
He is one of the most gifted artists you can find but blessed with demons
I always used to tell him a gift is a given but character is what you need to stand out
William is a wild horse that needs to be tamed. His super talent comes with the arrogance of an angry mare but when he channels this into his work, you see much more than magic
What you guys see in To Kill a Monkey is the channelling of that inner fire fueled by his demons – fear, anger, insecurity and poverty throwing up a simmering rage that pours hot charcoals through your screen and hits you on your couch as you wonder at such evocative performance.
As I have said, I have not watched this raving series and may eventually not have the time to see it, but the accolades that I keep getting on ‘your boys’ performance goes a long way to confirm what I have always known, that this is the Al Pacino of Nollywood.
His characterisation, his directing, fluid dance moves and echoing voice allow him to transcend the cadres of entertainment like De Niro and other such triple award-winning Gods in other climes
His downfall would be to fall back on this rude performance and begin to toe the lines of celebrity
There he will fail for what he lacks in the fragility of celebrity life he gains in abundance in the depth of his talents
He must at this point struggle to contain his latent arrogance, shun the klieglight for that is not for him, no matter the attraction
He is an actor in the mould of the legendary Olu Jacobs. His range is astounding and his ability to go deep within to pull out a character is what Kemi has just been able to show Nigerians with her beautiful directing spree.
At his lowest last year, we sat in the darkened hall of the Agip Recital Hall to watch a disastrous showing of my Play, Our Duke Has Gone Mad Again, which he directed.
He had lost so much confidence coming out of his own play, which didn’t catch fire.
The fire in his eyes had gone, he was teary cos he had cried so much during rehearsals as a result of pressure from the ilfated production he had produced and I kept hugging him and saying – William, we don fuck up with this one.
But I knew he would bounce back, he has so much in him to give out.
All he needs is support and encouragement to bring out the best in him and this is why I always tap him for my shows despite the huge resistance from my people
I really wish that I would find the time to watch this raging drama that seems to have captivated the world but even if i dont, let me just wish my brother a glaring time in the sun cos a star has finally been born.
Come and beat me
Duke of Shomolu
Last modified: July 29, 2025
