Pretty Nollywood actress, Nazo Ekezie, has insisted that acting is not a venture for beauty queens. According to the Anambra State indigene, her passion for the thespian art attracted her into the profession and not just because she felt she was beautiful enough. In a chat with The Point, she said her parents did not support her drive to become an actress from the onset. While her father died quite early, her mother wanted her to be a lawyer.
How was she able to convince her mother? She responded, “When my mother saw a movie I featured in, she called me to say she did not know I was this good. And since that day, she became my number one fan. She supports and gives me advice because she has seen that I am not acting to show the world that I am beautiful. Acting is not a beauty pageant; you must have the passion for it.”
As much as she loves acting, there had been occasions she had thought of walking out of it. The fact that the industry has no structure has been a source of serious headache for her.
“If you come in and there are no supports, you could get tired. I have experienced a situation where someone else was given my role after I had put in so much time and energy into it and the person was obviously not better than me. I almost gave up many times, but watching television has always reminded me that this is where I belong,” she said.
Though this is said to be a common occurrence in Nollywood, even as a young actress, the graduate of English Language and Linguistic insisted that she had never been molested by a director or producer.
“The only thing I have experienced was a producer telling me that they do not have money to give me. As an upcoming actress, I had to sacrifice a lot. Sometimes, I would even spend my money without getting anything. I have also had to sleep in a friend’s place since they could not pay for my hotel.
“Things are better now. I could still agree to be part of a project, even when there is no money involved. There are some stories you read and you do care about nothing but for people to get the message in that movie,” she added.
Okezie is worried that social media has done more harm than good to the Nigerian youth. According to her, most of them lack the knowledge that they have to work hard to be flamboyant like the people they see on Instagram, Facebook, among others.
She added, “I am not saying social media is totally bad, but it brings about a large degree of misconception. People believe they must wear makeup at all times to look beautiful or drive big cars without anyone asking them what they do for a living.”
