SHE is tall,
dark, sleek, with brains, a graduate
of English and Literary Studies,
amiable and about the hottest
sensation in the Nigerian movie
scene. Let’s take a stroll into the
world of Stephanie Onyekachi Okereke.
I am from a family of eight, that’s
a large one I guess? I am the sixth
child and the third girl. I had my
secondary school education in Delta
State, then my tertiary education at
the University of Calabar..
How she got into acting
How did I get into acting? When I
finished my secondary school, I went
for an audition at MINAJ Television.
I got there, they told me that to
act in the home video, I've got to
be a member of the Nigerian Actors
Guild. I went for the meeting. I met
the guy called Teco Benson and he
told me that there was a movie
coming up, so I auditioned for it
and they gave me the role I played
in Compromise part 2 and Waterloo,
then that was in 1997.The following
year, I got admission into school.
Then 2002 I went for the Most
Beautiful Girl In Nigeria pageant,
then later I felt I should go into
this thing fulltime so that’s how I
got into acting.
Challenges
Yes, not really because one
is an actress and people see you
almost all the time. Men will call
you all the time, they want to have
dinner with you, they want to meet
you, they want to do all kinds of
things. You have a lot of them
coming after you.
|
 |
|
Stephanie Okereke |
|
|
advertisement
|
|
|
|
How do I take it? Just like some will call you and
say hey... I want to see you and I will go: "Sorry, I’m
busy, I’m working;" you can’t see everyone, may be
you’re walking somewhere, someone says,"Hey! Hi, I was
the one that called you the other day and you go. 'Hey,
hi, how ‘re you doing?" You just talk to them politely
that’s just it.
Controversies
At the beginning, people say she is the one who featured
in this movie; I could remember some guy going crazy for
me. "You are the one I saw in that movie." After a time
it fizzled out till I went for the contest and after
then started featuring full time.
As for the experience at the beauty contest, it was fun.
It was a nice experience, it was something that helped
in building one's confidence and meeting a lot of
people. It is not easy, you know, walking naked, after
doing it for sometime, you just feel stupid. Let me not
say stupid, let the young girls not feel stupid doing
it. But it takes a lot of strong will for you to wear
bikinis and walk in front of people who don’t even look
that good, they sit down and try judging you. "Ok, her
leg is like this and her this is like that, you know it
takes a lot of courage for you to do that, it’s really
not easy. It really positioned me to say I’ve tried
this. I’ve tried that, so that’s just that. It was more
like a foundation. It was the basis. That’s just it.
Unfortunately I am a free-minded person. As I was going
into the contest, it was either you win or you lose. So
now if you lose, what are you going to do? It actually
helped me because it shaped me into who I am. If I
didn’t win, there are some other things I’m good at, let
me focus on the things I am good at and see how I am
going to get there. It didn’t make me feel less of a
person, it was just a contest and rather it made me feel
ok. My father did not have problem with me. He knew it
right from my secondary school days, that I am a showbiz
person. So he gave me all his support.
courtesy Tribune |
