Nigerian Movie Star Profile
Well I will say' I am born to a very Christian and deeply
religious family. I am presently in my third year in University of Lagos. I
am studying Creative Arts.
I am from Ebonyi State, but born and bred in Lagos.
I speak Yoruba very well. Some people want to call me a Lagosian and I
answer when they do.
Do you see any difference between those who studied Creative Arts and
those who did not.
Is there really? There are lots of us in the industry who do not read
anything close to Drama or Creative Arts or Theatre Arts and they are just
as good as those of us who are formally trained. I will rather say that when
the talent is in you, you excel better rather than just trying to be good
doing it. There are some actors and actresses that you don’t even need to go
the extra mile to get the best out of them. Some others have become so good
in their acting because they have been doing it over a long period of time
so they know where to correct the lapses, when they see the lapses, they
know.
Whole families are glued to their television sets watching One Bad Apple
and you as Segun’s jilted fiancée.
What other home-videos have you appeared in apart from
Day of Atonement?
There are many of them. Elastic limit, Cinderella, Atlanta, Love Paradise I
can quickly remember these for now.
So, what is your character in Day of Atonement.
The character I play in the movie is that of the sister to Mike, the
room-mate of James.
We are from a family that lack financially. But I am always there for my
brother, helping with the little I can provide for him so that he can face
his studies as an undergraduate. I am eventually put under a lot of stress
in providing for him and one thing leads to another. It is quite a gripping
and a movie full of passion.
What should
an actor do to get into character?
The first thing to do of course is to read the script. I try to imagine
myself being that character. I try to see how I can make it real. There was
a movie, Pastor and the Harlot, in which I played a wayward character and
those who watched the movie and my friends were like saying: Hey! You are
sure you had not done this type of thing before! God knows I have never been
a prostitute before, nor will I ever be! But that is just what it takes. You
visualize, imagine and make the character real.
How come acting? Why not something else?
In fact, I was earlier on studying to become a lawyer at Ibadan. I was
reading law. Along the line I just felt it was better for me to transfer to
Unilag to face something else. My parents were initially not in support but
I was determined because in secondary school, I confided in a friend of mine
that I wanted to be an actress in life. Fortunately for me while awaiting my
JAMB results, I had done some appearances. I have so built on that
experience so I can now blend . Besides, I really found commuting between
Ibadan and Lagos very stressful.
Earlier...?
I went to secondary school in Lagos. Stadium High School, Surulere. I told
you I am omo Eko proper (laughing).
Media “lies” and hype...
I don’t like the impressions at all, because they could be negative. Why? A
parent cannot have a child, hear such impressions and encourage the child to
go into the movie industry. But on the other hand, it does not bother me.
Why it does not bother me is because I know myself. Yet, you cannot be
content with that, because it is only those who are close to you that will
know you are not the kind of person people talk negatively about.
As far as the media is concerned, I have never lost any sleep over it. Why?
Because I feel it is their job, they are only doing their job. Initially,
the media was not favorable to me but I am beginning to get good mention and
reviews now. Nor can I really blame people for their opinions. There are
some of us out there that go out of the way to mess around and when people
now insinuate, can you really blame them? After all, people say there is no
smoke without fire.
Grace with
Arinze in Atlanta
Are you rich?
(Laughs).... I am still working hard to earn the big money. I see it coming
soon in the industry where actors and actresses will be earning good money.
So, in what way will you say, acting a Christian movie is different from
acting in any other movie?
Acting is acting. It all depends on the character you are given. If you are
given a script to play Jesus Christ, you read and visualize what it takes to
be Christ while He was on earth.
While visualizing that, you need to be spiritually motivated. The important
thing is to come out with a fantastic role. If I am asked to play Mary
Magdalene or Mary the mother of Jesus, I will do so and achieve their
character. In fact, I will want their role to affect me. But I will not play
a gangster or a prostitute and let the character affect me in real life. I
guess it is better to let positive roles affect you. But a role is a role to
play. I have seen people acting roles of rich men and women in a movie and
wanting to carry on in that manner, even in real life. If you take it too
far, it begins to affect you.
Philosophy?
I believe in everything that is good. My upbringing has been such that I
see things from a different perspective. Yes, I believe in God obviously. I
am into acting but I do not want any role I play to make me a bad person. I
am me. I am a calm person. I want to do something that is right. I believe
in hardwork too. I want to see myself where God wants me to be. He knows
what is good for me because whatever I want for myself may not be what He
wants for me.
Who are your mentors or the role models locally and internationally?
Joke Silva
inspires me, so does RMD, Liz Benson . Liz remains the number one
motivation. Internationally, I will mention Denzel Washington and Martin
Lauren. It is not an exhaustive list, though.
Some
of her movies includes
Tel:571-247-2679 email:contact@nigeriamovies.net
