After 22 years in the movie industry, Omotola Jalade-
Ekeinde, Nollywood actress, who was among the 2013
Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the
world, has surely made her mark as an actress.

In this interview, the 39-year-old
entertainer spoke about getting married early, music, her
new movie Alter Ego, and how Nollywood has
helped change the image of Africa in the diaspora.

What made you accept Alter Ego script?

Every story has a soul, some come to you quickly and
some writers don’t understand that and then they give it
to you at the end of the movie. The movie got me on
time. I have a very short attention span, I don’t like to
waste my time so if the movie doesn’t get to me in the
first 20 pages, I might not read it to the end because it
will be too much for me. With Alter Ego script, I
understood what they were trying to achieve from the
onset and I loved it but it was a diamond in the rough. I
knew what we could do with it so I called the director and
I said, “I see where you are going with this movie and I
think it would be great but we are going to have to tear it
and rebuild it. Are you ready?” A lot of filmmakers don’t
want to do that but he agreed on the condition that I was
also involved.

It appeared like something you have been waiting for, is
that right?

It’s not the first film that I will see that has prospects but
some filmmakers are not ready, they don’t have big
minds; it takes a big mind to do Alter Ego. There are
some scenes that won’t make the final cut because it is
a big movie and it takes a big mind to visualise where
we’re taking the movie to and they were ready, they
inspired me.

There were times we worked through the night because
it’s not a secret that I have insomnia and I exchange
ideas with the director through the night. If filmmakers
are ready to push it, I think Nollywood is big enough. We
have human resources, the wherewithal and tenacity. I
have shot in other climes, I have shot in Hollywood and I
understand why they have huge budgets, they go on
breaks as they please and even postpone shootings
based on weather forecast. Even Jamaicans that are
rugged, I have seen them fear Nigerians because we
have trained ourselves to work under any kind of
circumstance. If we bring that and refine it so that we are
not careless, I don’t think there is any industry that can
stand us.

The previous government appeared to be more
supportive of the industry than the present dispensation,
what are your thoughts on that?

I think the government needs to wake up. They go
around the world and they brag about Nollywood. Why
would you brag about something you’re not developing?
It’s not as if they are not doing anything but it’s not
enough. They need to understand that Nollywood is a
force in itself, it needs a ministry of its own.
For a long time, Nollywood was the only thing Nigerians
in the diaspora had to brag about Nigeria. We also have
a problem in this country, we won’t allow ourselves to be
great because we know each other but we support white
people if they try to do something. If people in the
diaspora say anything bad about Nigeria, Nigerians there
use Nollywood movies to show that there are mansions in
Nigeria.
My daughter, who is schooling in America, had to show
some students Nollywood movies because some of them
think that Africans still swing from trees and have
children with catarrh running down their noses. I just
came back from India where I attended the African
Development Bank convention about Agriculture.

Nollywood is the second employer of labour after
agriculture. I think they are even lying, if they want to be
sincere, Nollywood might be number one but they say
Agriculture because everyone plants. That’s how much
Nollywood has achieved. I think it is a challenge to
Osinbajo who is not in charge, it might take Buhari a long
time to understand or be difficult for him because he is
coming from another generation but Osinbajo needs to
understand how important this is and quickly start steps
that will develop the industry.

How have you managed to reinvent yourself after all
these years?

Knowing what matters and being authentic has helped
me know how to remain relevant; hopefully, your
authentic self makes sense. I’m blessed that from a very
tender age, I found God and my Christian values helped
me differentiate wrong from right. I like the real me and
what you see with me is what you get so it helps me to
be consistent.

With my job, dreaming big helped me. I dreamt big early
in my career and the things I see, I have not even gone
halfway. I also took it seriously, I have never taken my
career for granted. I took it seriously from the beginning
and I am taking it serious now. At times I deviated, I was
able to find my core self back and coupled with being
inspired, you can’t go wrong.

Did getting married early help you?

Getting married early is one of the biggest blessings of
my life because I look back now and wonder if I would
have been married now if I had not gotten married then.

It’s hard to find people you can trust and love you for
who you are. I can understand what my other colleagues
are going through, it’s not easy. Getting married to my
friend and a powerful man who is confident in himself
helped me. He has allowed me to have that stability and
still go out and fly.

You ventured into music at some point, what’s
happening to it?

I want to get back to music so bad and I am coming
back viciously. It’s not like I cared about what people
said before. I would have loved for my son to produce but
we fight a lot. I used to complain a lot but I am now used
to it. He’s not a star yet and he already knows what he
wants and pushes for it. I don’t know if we can ever work
together because we’re both headstrong but I would love
to work with him because he is a fantastic producer and
I’m not saying this because I am his mother. I hope we
can find a place we can work together.

I would love to do music in a way that I can be in concert,
have something like what Barbara Streisand has. I won’t
be like a Tiwa Savage because that’s her first career, I
can’t compete with her. I love music, almost more than
movies. It’s how I express myself, I write a lot and I love
to perform.

TheCable