- Talks About Her 30Yrs In NOLLYWOOD
One of the veteran actresses in the Nollywood industry honored at City People Movie Awards held in Lagos weeks back was this beautiful actress, Chief Mrs. Nnena Okonta, (nee Nwabueze) who shot to limelight over 20 years ago when she acted the role of Merit, in the popular Nollywood movie called LIVING IN BONDAGE. Many prefer to call her Merit of Living In Bondage. Since then, this Abia born actress who studied Theatre Arts at UNIPORT has done well for herself, featuring in major Nollywood movies.
Last week, City People Magazine Publisher SEYE KEHINDE caught up with her in the Lekki area of Lagos and got her to talk about her romance with Nollywood and why she can’t stop acting, 30 years after. Below are excerpts of the interview.
You’ve been acting for a very long time. You featured in the movie Living In Bondage years back and you’ve kept at it. What has kept you going?
(Smiles) you are right. I have been at it for decades. Its been a whirlwind affair. We didn’t know that the movie was going to be a big hit. We didn’t know that the movie was going to blow up the way it did. That was in 1991. I just came back from UNIPORT where I read Theatre Arts. We were shooting a pilot film to get sponsor for a soap opera. I was now told that we Igbos were planning to come out with a movie and I said ok lets go and try. It was in Lagos here, in Ijesha I was there. Fortunately for me I was lucky. That was the last day for rehearsals. I auditioned for the role of Chief Onuegwu’s Secretary. But the lady who is supposed to play Merit was not around so I was asked to stand in for her.
After I finished, everybody applauded. They said its ok. This lady is young and she suits the character more and she can carry the role better. They said I should come the following day that they will start shooting. I came and we started shooting and that’s how God blessed me.
From that point onwards what happened to your career?
Playing Merit in that movie, Living In Bondage boosted my career beyond my imagination. It gave me a huge platform.
It opened the doors for me. At that time the Yoruba movie industry was huge. It was well established. But the Igbos, we only had funny comedy stuff, but nothing on that level.
So, when they came out it was a big bang. Everybody embraced it within and outside Nigeria. So, it was huge. I could hardly walk on the streets. I could hardly run errands for my mum. I could hardly go to the market to buy Okro without being mobbed. It was beyond anything I could have dreamt off.
Between that time and now, how has your career been?
It has grown. I met my husband on 28th of February 1994. Two months later, we had a huge engagement party.
Two weeks later, we were married. There was no courtship, no sleeping together, nothing. We were just friends. Before I got married I was naive. It was after I got into marriage that I realised that it wasn’t as rosy as I thought. So many things were coming up and at a point I had to take a break to study my husband and to build a home. I got engaged in March and I got married in April. It was not easy for me. My pregnancy and all that. This was in 1994. In between all that, I acted in many other movies.
Circle of Doom, Evil Passion, and all that. I took a break, built my home and all that and then came back. I came back fully 5 years ago. But I was going on and off and I will take part each time my late husband allowed me to go and act.
When you came back did you notice any change in the industry?
I noticed a huge, huge change. I noticed that the pay wasn’t as good as it was, the story lines weren’t as tight as they used to be. The discipline wasn’t there anymore.
And I found out that you could just record, just like that. They could just call you, come, come, to location. Immediately you come, they will say to you, take a script, turn to Scene 4. Oya, start getting into costume, no rehearsal. You are not even given the script to read and internalize the role and under stand the story line and no how you are supposed to react. You will discover that you will start acting harshly and towards the end of the movie you will realize that I was supposed to be soft, understanding and sweet in this role. But because I didn’t have time to read it all up, I have messed it up, but nobody seems to care.
All they know is ok, the film was good. But there are positive changes too like better equipments, more people are coming into it, we are pumping out films everyday especially in the cast, like normal business.
So it has its ups and downs.
Do you do other things apart from acting?
Oh yes, I do other things. I have S and S prestige. It is a clothing line. I run it with my daughter. We also run a real estate agency here. My late husband was from Delta. We have a big farm over there. Most times, I am over there. I shuttle between there and here.
So your career will be like how many years now?
Oh about 30 years, because I started with the NTA, tele-movies under Sadiq Dabba here in Lagos. At NTA 2, Channels 5 we started that. You will go and shoot a movie and you will be given a Cheque to go and cash. And you go to VI and Queue. And by the time they remove VAT everything comes to about N800 to N1,000 you are happy.
But what kept me going is the PASSION I have for it. I worked with great people like Sam Loco, Mama Gee, Bukky Ajayi. These are people who will call you and give you advise and you will accept it. But now everybody that has done one or 2 or 3 scenes will feel on top of the world that they have arrived. There is hardly any respect. But its ok.
What has kept you going all these years?
It’s the passion for it because I just didn’t jump into it. I went to school. I read Theatre Arts at UNIPORT. But when I was not working, I love education, I went back to school to study BA in Education at the University of Calabar. Now I have a Masters degree in Administration and Planning. I can do so many things. If Theatre is not paying I can switch to other things. I have other opportunities. I can manage my businesses.
Where were you born? And where did you grow up?
I was born in Enugu. My parents are from Abia State. My father was a railway worker before he switched over to Flour Mills of Nigeria Ltd. That was what brought us to Lagos so we traveled all over Nigeria, to Zaria, Kaduna, Benue, Makurdi, Aba, so many places. I was in Enugu, but I grew up in different places like Lagos. I met my husband in Lagos, had my kids in Lagos.
At this stage now how do you pick up roles? What can make Nnena pick up a role?
The scripts. I always insist on reading the scripts. If they can’t send the script to me physically, I will ask them to send it online, through Whatsapp. So I will read the script. If its indecent I won’t do it because my children are all grown ups. I won’t play embarrassing roles. If the story line is not tight, I will ask the person handling it ok, do you mind if we do it this way or that way? Do you mind if we sit down and work on the story, if he says No, you must do it the way I want ooo, I will say ok please look for some body else. Location also matters. There was a time I went to shoot at Nsugbe, a farming community. No hotel, No food. Literally, a snake crawled past me. For the 3 to 4 days I was there I had to sleep in my car. Sometimes its not worth it.
Despite all these challenges you still have not given up. Why?
No I have not given up. When tragedy struck, and I needed somewhere, a safe place, the movie industry was the first place I turned to and I thank all the producers and directors, the EPs that welcomed me. Its almost like being home.
I like mingling. I like traveling. I like meeting people. I like interpreting roles. I love it. I don’t think I will ever give it up.
Who are like your colleagues or contemporaries in the industry?
I met a lot of them at the City People Movie Awards. I went to UNIPORT with Ejike Asiegbu, Hilda Dokubo and Bob Manuel. Ngozi Nwosu I worked with on the set of Living In Bondage. That is 26 or 27 years ago. I can add Gloria Anozie-Young, Iya Awero has played the role of my Mother-In-Law in Happy Family I am talking about 30 years ago. Ibu was my Manager years ago. I am the only person in the industry that he managed. There are so many of us. The late Felicia Mayford, the late Chinyere Osai.
So, Living In Bondage is the movie that brought you out?
Yes, Since then, I have worked on other great scripts, Living In Bondage was like a Novelty. People embraced it I have worked on other stories, but none has received as much attention and acclaim as Living In Bondage. That is the truth. The producer was Polycap-Paul Ogunjiofor (Paulo), Executive Producer was Kenneth Nnebue, those are the ones I can remember. Ngozi Nwosu was one of the production crew. She has been in the industry for a long, long time.
Any regrets in the industry looking back now?
Maybe if I had the chance, I would have fought more to remain more relevant in the industry. I wouldn’t have gone on sabbatical for so many years. I think I lost a lot by being away for so long. Its like trying to build my fan base from the scratch. Only very few people remember me.
I was Nnena Nwabueze then. (Merit). But now I am coming back as Nnena Okonta. Its like building a house from another foundation.
