I never knew acting would take me this far -Genevieve

SHE WAS described as ‘Nollywood’s Julia Roberts’ by Oprah
in 2009, yet Nigerian actress Genevieve Nnaji has doubled
Roberts’ film count – with a total of 80 credits to her name
– in a career that has spanned almost two decades.
Making her television debut at the tender age of eight,
Nnaji has gone on to become one of Nigeria’s hottest and
most successful faces.
From 2003’s Blood Sister, alongside fellow Nollywood star
Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, to the more recent blockbuster
Half of a Yellow Sun, opposite London-born Hollywood
actor Thandie Newton and 12 Years a Slave’s leading man,
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nnaji has revelled in a cross-section of
scripts in the ever-competitive industry.
Much like Nollywood, which is now the second biggest
film industry in the world, Nnaji has worked incredibly
hard to get to the top, a feat she says she owes to the West
African market, which launched her onto the world’s
stage.
“We’ve been churning out films for years now and we’ve
managed to break into the homes of millions of people
around the world,” she says. “There are a lot of success
stories that have come out of [the Nollywood film
industry].”
And Nnaji is definitely one of them.
The 35-year-old actress, the fourth of eight children, was
born in Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria, into a strict middle
class Catholic family. Her father is a retired banker and
her mother a schoolteacher.
Though the actress completed all her studies, she shunned
‘conventional’ professions like her parents and opted
instead for career in the arts.
However, she is quick to point out that her 19-year-old
daughter Chimebuka, who is the same age Nnaji was
when she found fame, won’t do the same.
“I think we have enough entertainers in our family quite
frankly,” she laughs.
On her journey in film, the softly-spoken star said: “[When
I did my first television appearance] I was eight, we were
pretty much just playing around.
“I was a child model and there was an opportunity for
any child actors to come in and perform and the best way
they could do that was to go into an agency and that’s
how I got involved at an early age. I went back to school,
so it wasn’t like a continuous process. Coming back into it,
I was 19 and it was something that I wanted to do by that
time. I didn’t know it would take me this far though, but
I’m grateful, I can’t complain. So far, so good.”
In 2005, Nnaji won the Best Actress in a Leading Role at
the inaugural Africa Movie Academy Awards and earns
an estimated N2.5m (£9,375.33) –N3.5 m (£13,125.42) per
Nollywood movie.
It’s quite apt to note here that the West African movie
machine employs over a million people, churns out
approximately 2,500 movies a year, most of which go direct
to television and DVD across the continent and further
abroad.
She said of her success in a recent interview: “For a long
time I kept thinking, OK, this is just temporary, definitely
I’m going to go back to school and read law, English or
something.”
But after film number 15, it’s probably safe to say the
actress had found her calling.
And having conquered many milestones in film, the
award-winning star has moved into fashion, recently
launching her new line, St Genevieve, described as “the
epitome of elegance, created for women with sophistication
at its core,” in her Nigerian hometown.
“[St Genevieve] is me basically trying to ease myself slowly
and softly into the market. By recreating my personal style
into my fashion label, I am creating this collection that
brings to life strong and sexy pieces for every woman to look
good. I’m definitely going to do a men’s line in the future
and go crazy with the styles,” she says.
But in the first instance, Nnaji has drawn on her own
“conservative” style for inspiration. She has also joined
forces with Jumia, Africa’s leading online shopping
destination, which enables her to sell her designs all over
the continent.
“They’re the biggest retail store we have in Africa, so having
them as partner is amazing, I couldn’t ask for more.
Our partnership gives us the opportunity to reach other
countries in Africa so it’s a good platform to distribute.”
Her ultimate aim, however, is to see her designs, which is
themed around pieces from chic to casual, worn all over
the world, especially in the UK.
“We have Nigerians and Africans all over the world, there
are thousands of them in the UK. It would be a great
thing to be able to see my line stocked in retail stores
around in the UK.
“We’re working on that as we speak. We’ll try and target
major stores to ensure we reach everyone who identifies with
me and my style.”
Even without fashion, Nnaji’s influence around the world
is undeniable.
With over 1.4 million fans on social media, her transition
from film to fashion looks set to be as seamless as her most
coveted dress from her line, but something that may not be
so smooth is her acceptance of the word “role model”.
“I don’t put pressure on myself by considering myself a role
model. I don’t think that’s what I set out to be when I
wanted to act, but along the way, I guess that’s what I
have become. For me, I feel whatever I am doing; I will
always be true to myself.”
What she is more that willing to accept is the effect her
success has on fellow dark-skinned women, coming from a
country that is thought to have the world’s highest
percentage of women using skin-lightening agents.
She says: “People need to definitely erase the mindset that
any other colour is better than your colour. I think it’s a
complex. I am dark-skinned, I know who I am inside,
forget the skin. I think darker-skinned women should
really focus on the inner beauty and not allow somebody
else’s complex or insecurities to overshadow their
confidence.”