Veteran Nollywood actor, Chinedu Ikedieze, has revealed that the death of colleague, Ada Ameh broke him and the entire cast of the popular sitcom, ‘The Johnsons.’
LEADERSHIP recalls that Ada Ameh died on July 17th, 2022, in Warri, Delta State, barely two years after losing her only child, Ladi Ameh.
Until her death, Ada Ameh played the role of Emu; the matriarch of the Johnsons’ family in the eponymous series.
Speaking in a recent interview with Chude Jideonwo, Ikedieze who played the role of Efe, the first son of the family in the sitcom, said the late Ameh was like a mother to them, stressing that she took her character as a mother in the series off the screen.
He said: “It was very hard [for me when I heard that Ada Ameh has passed]. You know, Ada was like a mother. She took that [Emu] character off the screen. Even outside production, I have met her severally outside and people would tell her, ‘See your pikin.’
“So, it [her death] was like losing a part of me. That was the least information or news I wanted to hear. That was the biggest shock of our lives; all of us on ‘The Johnsons.’ It broke us forever.
“We suspended production after her death. But I thank God that we were able to calm our heads and find a way forward. You know, losing Ada on ‘The Johnsons,’ we didn’t even believe that the show would still go on because if you mention ‘The Johnsons,’ you must mention Emuakpor. So, it’s difficult to take away Ada’s character, Emu from ‘The Johnsons.’ But I don’t know how it happened that we are still bubbling. It was difficult because we see her everyday, her pictures are in the room. Sometimes you come to location, you see her pictures, people start crying, you know. It is hard. Very hard.”
