When it comes to playing the role of a gangster or criminal in Nollywood movies, hardly any Nigerian actor beats Hank Anuku in the game. For over two decades, the Delta Born actor entertained Nollywood lovers with how he embodied villain characters with Oscar-worthy performances on the silver screens.
However, in June 2010, Hanks was appointed as the special adviser on tourism and entertainment to the former governor of Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan. And it felt like a goodbye to fans after the legendary Nigerian-Ghanian movie star stopped being a regular face in the movie scene. Shockingly, following years of prolonged absence from the Nigerian filmmaking industry, the 62-year-old actor surfaced again. Unfortunately, this time, it wasn’t in a blockbuster movie but in a disturbing video that has since gone viral and caused many significant worries.
In the video, a man resembling Hank Anuku was spotted roaming the street of Asaba clad in rags, looking dirty and unkempt and generally in a sad state. Initially, many dismissed the video as just a random man who looked like Hanks. Still, many netizens residing in Asaba quickly let everyone know that the person in the video is indeed Nollywood bad boy Hank Anuku. Immediately, this raised suspicion that the iconic Nollywood star may be suffering from a mental illness. While hurling profanities at film stars in the country for abandoning yet another of their own, fans began discussing how to get in touch with the actor and provide him with necessary financial aid and mental rehabilitation.
Surprisingly, veteran actress Shan George dispelled the rumours saying that her colleague is well and doing fine and he’s not the one in the viral video. Confusion, however, hit Nigerians hours after junior colleagues in the industry called out Shan George for lying about Hank Anuku’s mental state. According to Iheme Nancy and Adanma Luke, Hank is genuinely ill and needs help. But guess what? The confusion was further heightened on November 18, 2022, after Hank Anuku himself took to his Instagram Story to confirm that he was okay and doing perfectly well. He warned those spreading crap about him to stop trying to ruin his image. #HanksAnuku #NollywoodHanksAnuku #HanksAnukulife
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