The Nigerian Film Stars Behind Some of Twitter'due south Greatest Memes

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

In the skilful former days of Vine, one of the near popular clips was that of what appears to be a kid property upwards a machete. With a mix of tears and sweat falling from his face, the immature man cries to his mother, whom we can't run across in the video. Y'all can 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 head in his easily, defeatedly hissing, "Oh my God." This video chop-chop became the go-to reaction meme for expressing frustration, annoyance, or disappointment. The looping issue of Vines made it impossible to cease watching it, merely the origin of the prune was largely a mystery.

Fast-forward to a mail-Vine 2019, a globe where short videos of two small 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 movie industry, a.one thousand.a. Nollywood, at that place's no mystery here. The "boys" in these viral videos are the Nigerian comic-flick duo Osita Iheme and Chinedu Ikedieze. Ikedieze is also the crying guy from the Vine. Don't be fooled past Iheme and Ikedieze's size — they're both grown men (Iheme is 37 and Ikedieze is 41). They're two of the almost sought-afterward actors in Nigeria for comedic roles, and they rose to fame by playing mischievous children under the moniker "Aki and Pawpaw."

Nicole, a Brazil-based adult female behind the Twitter business relationship @nollywoodroll, is largely responsible for Iheme and Ikedieze's meme-star status. Her account, which has amassed over 200,000 followers since Jan, was created later on 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 unabridged filmography, too as Iheme'south. She loved the movies so much that she decided to create an account to postal service snippets from them, as a class of homage to the actors. "I had no thought how far the clips would get!" she tells Vulture. "It'due south quite exciting that a lot of people enjoy this content and thank me for introducing them to these actors."

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

One of the nigh popular memes is this scene from the 2007 movie Stubborn Flies . Information technology'south a comedy near a spoiled young man (played by Iheme) who wants to move out of his parents' home, have some responsibility for himself, and offset a family. Ikedieze plays the role of his "guardian angel," dressed in a white tux, who constantly visits him and tries to make him human action right. Iheme's character remains generally unimpressed past his angel ("Where are your wings?" he asks suspiciously), just somewhen he forms a friendship with him. In this particular scene — which has now been viewed past millions of Twitter users — Iheme is sitting in a chair with a book in his hand, trying to make sense of everything going on effectually him. The look on his face shows that something isn't going right, but he doesn't seem to sympathise why.

The 2004 comedy Mr. Ibu features this scene of Iheme's grapheme, Muo, stealing a few gulps from his father'southward beer bottle and running off earlier he gets caught. In the movie, he plays a mischievous immature male child who navigates the somewhat turbulent relationship he has with his begetter by pulling roguish pranks that he mostly gets away with thanks to his begetter'southward vapidness.

This film is 1 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, it'southward perfect for their picture show roles, giving them an border confronting bullies who may underestimate or effort to outsmart them. Mr. Ibu is one of the virtually popular comedy films from Nigeria, a two-hr joyride marked by Iheme's effortless humor.

This clip from the 2008 flick Marcus D Millionaire is one of the few scenes where both actors are absolutely serenity — 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 coin by a king to start a business organisation and quit causing trouble within the community), simply it's hilarious nonetheless. This prune may be pure silence, but for the majority of the picture show, Iheme and Ikedieze constantly throw out 1 sarcastic remark after another, and information technology's beautiful to watch.

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

The source of this clip is the 2007 pic Craven Commonwealth. Starring Iheme and ii other Nigerian comic actors, Francis Odega and Victor Osuagwu, the two-part film explores three men's humorous experiences on their quest to get rich. When their craven-subcontract 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 keep in the sequel, titled Bird Flu. I mean, why not?

Calculating huge mathematical figures is a hobby for these two in the 2008 motion-picture show Intelligent Students . Non only do we accept the money-counting memes every bit a issue of this pic, information technology's besides the source of the legendary Vine. The motion-picture show stars Ikedieze and Iheme as two brothers, Pere and Santo, who try to help out with their family'south dire fiscal situation by doing odd jobs while coping with their father, who has a drinking trouble. Somehow, they manage to turn an otherwise dark story line into comedy gold.

If yous've only merely discovered these actors and you're eager to find out more, a YouTube search of whatever of these film titles is a great place to kickoff. Each one is just as funny as the next, and the hilarity of these movies tin can be easily appreciated, fifty-fifty by people who exercise not have a firm grasp of the plot or subject affair. (Here'south a tip earlier you kickoff: Clear your schedule for the day, because most of these films are pretty lengthy.) The duo, for what information technology'due south 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't figure out who introduced them to my movies, just I am grateful for it."

The Nigerian Film Stars Behind Twitter'south Greatest Memes