The Nigerian Film Stars Behind Some of Twitter's Greatest Memes

Osita Iheme and Chinedu Ikedieze in Intelligent Students. Photograph: YouTube

In the skillful old days of Vine, i of the most pop clips was that of what appears to be a kid holding upwardly a machete. With a mix of tears and sweat falling from his face, the young man cries to his mother, whom nosotros can't see in the video. You tin feel the pain in his voice when he says, "Mama, tell him!" In a sudden burst of exasperation, he throws down the machete and sits with his bowed caput in his hands, defeatedly hissing, "Oh my God." This video quickly became the go-to reaction meme for expressing frustration, badgerer, or disappointment. The looping outcome of Vines made it impossible to terminate watching it, but the origin of the clip was largely a mystery.

Fast-forward to a post-Vine 2019, a world where short videos of two pocket-sized boys doing decidedly grown-up things like smoking cigars, pranking adults, and successfully wooing a number of women with their bouncy, high-pitched voices began to pick up in popularity on Twitter. Like the Vine that preceded them, the origin of these videos has remained obscure.

But for those well versed in movies from the Nigerian picture manufacture, a.k.a. Nollywood, in that location's no mystery here. The "boys" in these viral videos are the Nigerian comic-film duo Osita Iheme and Chinedu Ikedieze. Ikedieze is as well the crying guy from the Vine. Don't exist fooled by Iheme and Ikedieze'southward size — they're both grown men (Iheme is 37 and Ikedieze is 41). They're two of the well-nigh sought-afterward actors in Nigeria for comedic roles, and they rose to fame past playing mischievous children under the moniker "Aki and Pawpaw."

Nicole, a Brazil-based woman backside the Twitter account @nollywoodroll, is largely responsible for Iheme and Ikedieze's meme-star status. Her account, which has amassed over 200,000 followers since January, was created afterward she discovered the actors from Ikedieze'south famous Vine. Out of curiosity, she combed the internet for more videos of the actor and slowly worked her way through his entire filmography, as well as Iheme's. She loved the movies and then much that she decided to create an account to post snippets from them, as a class of homage to the actors. "I had no idea how far the clips would go!" she tells Vulture. "Information technology's quite exciting that a lot of people savour this content and give thanks me for introducing them to these actors."

Iheme and Ikedieze take a vast choice of movies where they deed as brothers or exuberant buddies. Let's take a quick wait at the more than popular ones that accept been immortalized cheers to Twitter:

One of the most pop memes is this scene from the 2007 movie Stubborn Flies . It's a comedy virtually a spoiled young man (played past Iheme) who wants to motion out of his parents' home, accept some responsibleness for himself, and get-go a family. Ikedieze plays the role of his "guardian angel," dressed in a white tux, who constantly visits him and tries to make him act right. Iheme'due south character remains by and large unimpressed past his angel ("Where are your wings?" he asks suspiciously), but eventually he forms a friendship with him. In this particular scene — which has at present been viewed by millions of Twitter users — Iheme is sitting in a chair with a book in his hand, trying to make sense of everything going on around him. The look on his face shows that something isn't going right, only he doesn't seem to understand why.

The 2004 comedy Mr. Ibu features this scene of Iheme's graphic symbol, Muo, stealing a few gulps from his father'southward beer bottle and running off before he gets defenseless. In the movie, he plays a mischievous immature boy who navigates the somewhat turbulent human relationship he has with his father past pulling roguish pranks that he mostly gets away with thanks to his begetter'due south vapidness.

This flick is i of many in which the actors played teenagers, which they're able to pull off as a result of their small stature and youthful look. Iheme and Ikedieze are undeterred by their size. If anything, information technology's perfect for their movie roles, giving them an border against bullies who may underestimate or effort to outsmart them. Mr. Ibu is one of the about popular comedy films from Nigeria, a two-hour joyride marked by Iheme's effortless humour.

This clip from the 2008 moving-picture show Marcus D Millionaire is one of the few scenes where both actors are admittedly quiet — a rare occurrence for the quick-witted and smart-mouthed pair. In the movie, the two men become wealthy by some stroke of luck and so the target of envious neighbors. The plot is pretty improbable (the pair are offered an unlimited amount of money by a king to start a business and quit causing trouble within the community), but it's hilarious nonetheless. This prune may be pure silence, just for the majority of the film, Iheme and Ikedieze constantly throw out one sarcastic remark after some other, and it's cute to watch.

This meme — which was originally posted by Nicole — has been viewed over twenty meg times on Twitter. It shows Iheme looking on in puzzlement while two men appear to play a game. It's arguably get the best way to communicate defoliation on Twitter these days, as evidenced by the many variations of captions that have accompanied the video.

The source of this prune is the 2007 movie Chicken Republic. Starring Iheme and two other Nigerian comic actors, Francis Odega and Victor Osuagwu, the two-part film explores iii men'due south humorous experiences on their quest to get rich. When their craven-farm business starts to crumble thanks to the scourge of bird flu, the men turn to other dubious means of earning money, with unintended consequences. Their antics continue in the sequel, titled Bird Influenza. I mean, why not?

Calculating huge mathematical figures is a hobby for these two in the 2008 movie Intelligent Students . Non only do nosotros accept the coin-counting memes equally a result of this motion picture, it'due south too the source of the legendary Vine. The movie stars Ikedieze and Iheme as two brothers, Pere and Santo, who effort to help out with their family unit's dire fiscal situation past doing odd jobs while coping with their father, who has a drinking problem. Somehow, they manage to turn an otherwise dark story line into comedy gold.

If yous've just merely discovered these actors and y'all're eager to find out more, a YouTube search of any of these flick titles is a great place to kickoff. Each one is just equally funny as the side by side, and the hilarity of these movies tin exist easily appreciated, fifty-fifty past people who do not take a firm grasp of the plot or subject field matter. (Here's a tip before you start: Clear your schedule for the day, considering most of these films are pretty lengthy.) The duo, for what it's worth, seem pleasantly surprised by their meme fame. "Whenever I go live on Instagram, people tune in from all over the world," Ikedieze said in an interview last yr. "I tin can't effigy out who introduced them to my movies, but I am grateful for it."

The Nigerian Moving picture Stars Behind Twitter's Greatest Memes