The night before his high school musical premiere, Chike Ohanwe lay in his bed holding the local newspaper. There, on the front page, were photographs of him and his three co-stars from Guys and Dolls. Inside, even bigger pictures. He closed his eyes.
"A blast of euphoria just went through my body, which felt out of worldly," Chike recalls. "I forgot the time, I forgot the place that I was in, and then when I came back, I was like, okay, thank you. Whatever this was, I know that I'm on my right path."
That visceral confirmation has been his compass all along. It's the same feeling that guided him from a childhood theater group in Finland to becoming the first man of color to win a Jussi Award, Finland's equivalent of an Oscar. But more importantly, it's the philosophy that's shaped every major decision in his career: follow the fun, and make every choice from love.
For the Nigerian-Finnish actor, singer, and media personality, this isn't some superficial motivational mantra. It's a practiced discipline that's carried him through the journey of being a trailblazer in his industry.
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The Feeling of Fun
Chike's relationship with performance started early. He joined a children's theater group at age eleven, but even before that, the pull towards performance was undeniable. "I think I've always wanted to be an actor," he says. "Maybe I wasn't the only child anymore. I got a sister, and then I needed more attention,” he laughs, when pressed about where that desire came from.
Because there was no defining origin story for his love of performance. "It's always been in me," Chike explains. "I don't really have a real logical answer to it."
That instinctive pull is exactly what he's learned to trust. While studying at The Theatre Academy Helsinki, and throughout his career that's included starring roles in films like Jos rakastat (If You Love, 2015) and the hit series Queen of Fucking Everything, Chike has developed the ability to recognize and follow what genuinely excites him.
"I follow what's fun," Chike explains. "If it's interesting, and if I feel that there's some kind of a spark, I know that it's going to be something meaningful." And the spark he speaks of is an actual physical sensation in his body. "It's been somehow very physical, the connection with this tingle in my pits," he explains. "It's telling me something, so I've been listening."
When Fun Becomes Freeing
Listening to that feeling led Chike to win the 2020 Jussi Award for Best Supporting Actor in Aurora, a film about an asylum seeker trying to gain refuge in Finland. He enjoyed the director and his role, made new friends on set, and had time to practice and improvise. The tingle was there.
"I was happy that I won, but it was also something very big for the entire film industry in Finland," he reflects. "There's not that many people before me. So I'm very aware of the fact that I'm representing more than just me."
While the weight of being the first is real, winning the Jussi Award also brought an unexpected liberation for him. "For the first time, I felt that I was being carried instead of carrying all this stuff by myself," he recalls. "The fact that I got the prize meant that I wasn't carrying it alone anymore. I became lighter that day."
Following Fun Around the World
Following fun has taken Chike places he never imagined. In addition to winning Finland’s highest film award, he spent eleven years touring the world with Signmark, a deaf Finnish rapper. What started as a music video invitation turned into a creative partnership that had them performing at the United Nations headquarters in New York, with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and across China, Brazil, Hungary, and beyond.
"I basically paid my rent by touring the world with a deaf music artist," Chike says, still marveling at the improbability of it all. It’s the perfect illustration of what happens when you follow that spark. Signmark reached out after reading a piece Chike wrote about Finnish racism on Facebook. Suddenly he was co-writing an album, learning the songs, and touring internationally—sharing hotel rooms with his musical idols, dining with Finland's former president at diplomatic events in Paris, building a life he couldn't have plotted if he'd tried.
Today, Chike is following that spark into new territory as a solo artist, crafting a sound that tells stories in innovative ways. Beyond music and performance, he's also exploring entrepreneurial ventures with his siblings, driven by a vision of building sustainable creative lives.
The Permission You're Looking For
So how do you actually apply Chike’s philosophy when you're staring at a career crossroads, when the practical choice and the exciting choice seem to be pulling you in different directions?
Here are two moves you can steal from Chike’s story:
1. Stop apologizing for following what excites you, and trust when something in your body feels right.
2. Understand that choosing from love—even when it's hard, scary, or you're the first person in your industry or family or community to make that choice—is powerful and effective.
"I do believe that every choice that you make from love leads to love, even if they're hard choices," he says. "God knows, sometimes even the right choices hurt like hell, but there are some things that you can count on when you believe you are following your heart."
The practical takeaway here isn't to quit your job tomorrow and follow your bliss. It's to start exercising that muscle. Notice what gives you that tingle. Pay attention to the difference between fear that warns you away and fear that confirms you're on to something real. Make one small choice from love, and see where it leads.
Because as Chike's career demonstrates, following fun isn't about avoiding the hard stuff. It's about ensuring that when you do the hard stuff—and you will do hard stuff—you're doing it for something that genuinely lights you up. And you're doing it on a path that feels like yours.
So, take your cue from Chike. If you’ve got sparks of fun and love leading the way, maybe that’s all you need to take the next step.
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