Ego Boyo: “The Character Kate Henshaw Played Was Originally Male”
Nigerian actress and producer, Ego Boyo has revealed how Kate Henshaw got the role written for a male actor. Boyo, the executive producer of “The Ghost and The House of Truth” disclosed how Henshaw ended up playing ‘Officer Stainless’ who was originally a man.
Boyo said she and the film’s director, Akin Omotosho were going through the script when they found out that the only personality that came to their mind as being fit for the role was Kate Henshaw.
“When we started reading about the script (for ‘The Ghost and The House of Truth,’) initially, the character of officer Stainless was not a woman, it was a man,” she said
“So when we started thinking about it, we were in sync because that’s who we’re thinking about for that role. We’re just thinking about Kate Henshaw,” Boyo continued.
“You see Kate, you know, in all her videos, face, and everything, and it was just seeing her like that and then just even knowing the intensity that she can bring to any role.”
So how did a character that was supposed to be a man transition into a pregnant woman?
Changing the character
In the film, Henshaw plays the role of an efficient and pregnant police officer that detests bribe and wants a stainless career. Despite her pregnancy, she decided to follow the case through and help the mother find her missing child.
Boyo praised the director for his decision to tweak the character. “I think that that was mainly Akin (Omotosho), you know. Thinking about the character, you wanted somebody that would have a great deal of empathy.
“And I think, because of the subject matter, it seems to work better with a female police officer rather than a male because this is a missing child,”
“You needed somebody not that men can feel it. Of course, they can. But you needed somebody to… have a great deal more empathy with the mother. And sometimes you just think, Okay, this could work. You know, let’s try a female police officer.
“In a lot of films that have police officers, the focus is usually men… It would be nice to see what a female police officer can do, how the audience would accept it, how she would translate that role,” Ego concluded.
The decision of Ego Boyo and Akin Omotosho to cast Kate Henshaw definitely paid off. “The Ghost and the house of Truth” is already quite successful and decorated.
The film already won three awards from two major festivals – the AFRIFF and Urban World film festival. Boyo believes the audience would appreciate the efforts of the crew and cast.
