How we made The Wedding Party 2 — actors, director share movie set experience

The Wedding Party was no doubt the biggest movie in 2016 and a better part of 2017 as it broke box office records and raked in millions.

The movie featured a collection of experienced hands like Sola Sobowale and Ireti Doyle. It also had newcomers like Banky W, Ikechukwu and Kemi Adetiba, who directed a movie for the first time.

The second installment of the flick, which will be premiered on Sunday, December 10, boasts of even more experienced hands like Patience Ozokwor and Chiwetalu Agu in addition to more foreign actors.

Speaking with TheCable Lifestyle at the private screening, the actors and director shared what it was like being on set with a large crew.

“I didn’t think it was a repeat because we were going in a different direction in terms of the people that were getting married and subjects we were touching in terms of race, background,” Adesua Etomi said while speaking about the difference between the first and second installment.

“The Wedding Party 2 is not a class, we are not here to try to teach or preach. Some of the subjects that we touch on are very universal, interracial relationships. More than we touch on these things, we offer a solution of sorts, a resolution of sorts and I thought that was brilliant about TWP 2.”

For this 43-year-old rapper turned actor, The Wedding Party 2 filming set was an opportunity to learn.

“It wasn’t that hard, blending into the character, maybe learning the lines where a bit difficult but as a rapper lines are either here or there,” Ikechukwu said.

“I already felt blessed with the cast in the first part, a lot of experience that I could suck and absorb experience from and then all of a sudden we are having the second installment and they are adding more experienced legends into this project. They were embracing me, pulling me in and calling me one of their own, I felt very blessed and I learnt a lot.”

As a result of being on The Wedding Party cast, Ikechukwu said he’s been getting a lot of scripts and he is already looking forward to some roles.

“The scripts are coming in, I don’t have a dream role yet but something out of the box. Something they would not normally expect Ikechukwu to do. I have played a madman role, I want to play a handicapped role.”

NIYI AKINMOLAYAN (Director)

“They are professionals, they understood that they were the one crucial to the success of the first one. It would be stupid for them to ruin their chances in the second one,” he said in reference to set fights.

“We had a lot of back and forth in the whole process; prepping for the movies, discussing the characters. They knew what they were supposed to do in this particular film. Where the little challenge came was with the foreign actors. We had to explain the Nigerian jokes and why it was funny.”

Nwigwe, who transitioned from a minor role to a major role in The Wedding Party 2, said the exposure for his career has been “second to none”.

He said the magic of the movie was in the clashes on set.

“Of course when you have tons of professionals on one set it will always happen when choices clash. We are working on the same set, but we have different processes, and that is in most cases where the magic lies and it’s always good.”