| Movie makers want to
lay me, I refuse
•That’s why they frustrate me–Nollywood
act
By Segun Ajiboye & Emeka Enyinnaya
Sunday,
May 6, 2007
|
•Adaeze
Photo: Sun News Publishing
|
|
If anyone was in doubt about the ignoble role that Nollywood
movie producers and directors play, here is a confirmation. It is nothing but
sex-for-role, says this struggling actress, Princes Adaeze Edwin.
Those
that are willing to play the game by their rule get juicy roles while those that
rebuff their sex demands are relegated to the background, she further alleges.
But
if indeed some girls “play ball” to become celebrities, why not Adaeze?
“For
me, I have decided not to mess up, no matter how long it takes me to grow. I would
have been famous if I had succumbed to the demands of some people,” she
told Sunday Sun in an interview in Lagos.
Stories are told of Nollywood
as an industry where the producers, mostly males, seek to first sleep with the
female greenhorns before they are given movie roles.
And as a bait, the salacious
ones are first cast in fleeting roles, derisively called “waka pass”,
to whet their appetite.
The catch, as the story further goes, is for her
to begin to imagine that “ah, so I could in no time be as famous as…”
That way, she is well persuaded to “come and submit”, to get major
roles.
However, the flip side of the story, which is less trumpeted, is that
some desperate wannabes actually offer themselves to the producer(s) in a manner
of ‘use what you have to get what you want’ in exchange for movie
roles. Where they don’t out rightly ask, their body language suggests.
Whichever
way, no one has to date boldly named names.
Yet, in local parlance, the
saying: “There is no smoke without fire”, is quite familiar.
Unlike
Adaeze, not all wannabes are bold enough to call the bluff of the industry “sexplioters”.
For
example, Adaeze’s friend (names withheld) could not. According to Adaeze,
the girl in question had a terrible experience in the hands of some producers
who promised to hand her movie roles.
Pity, rather than assign her movie roles,
they allegedly took the poor girl to bed, and shuffled her among themselves.
“I
have friends who left the profession in frustration and they has sworn not to
come back. One of my friends called me recently and told me she was no longer
interested in acting. Do you know why? It is because many people have slept with
her and she has nothing to show for it. Worst still, she has not featured in any
movie after hanging around for about two years.”
In fairness, however,
Adaeze said some producers are not to blame. Rather, she said, the girls should
take a fair share.
“Most people put the blame at the doorpost of
the producers. But I tell them it should not be so. To be fair to them, I have
never heard of any producer who forced or raped a girl. What it means is that,
you as a girl, can say no to his demand. But the truth is that these girls come
out to shout blue murder because they didn’t get what they wanted.”
Sex
for sundry favours
The issue of sex-for-role, Adaeze said, is not
peculiar to Nollywood.
Elsewhere, she insists, some men in position of authority
are known to have requested to sleep with either their female subordinates or
other girls in need, to guarantee some favour in return.
It was for the same
reason that Adaeze quit her job at four different places in frustration. “The
experience is funny indeed. I have worked with four different big companies in
Lagos. But I left because each of the ogas wanted to sleep with me.” Producer
as lover
Adaeze’s position is however not to demonise movie producers.
Would she date a movie producer? Adaeze answers in the affirmative.
“Sure,
I would date a producer if he is the type that I like. If I decide to date him,
it would be because I have a feeling for him, not that he wants to give me a role.”
Though Adaeze is barely one year old in Nollywood, she already has about eight
movies and one soap to her credit. For her, that is just the beginning of a cruise
to stardom, like her role model, Stella Damasus. Impossible conditions
I
have gone through a lot in the industry. Even right now, I’m having some
unsavoury experience. However, I don’t give a damn about what happens because
I know that God is with me and when it is time I will grow. To be sincere with
you, girls go through a lot in the industry. For instance, you could be called
up for an audition, the next moment you are told that you won’t get it if
you don’t ‘play ball’.
These things exist for real. Unfortunately,
most times, they sleep with the girl and she ends up without the role. I have
friends who left the profession in frustration and they have sworn not to come
back. Friend cajoled
One of my friends called me recently and said she
was no longer interested in acting. Do you know why? It is because many people
slept with her and she has nothing to show for it because she has not featured
in any movie after about two years. For me, I have chosen not to mess up no matter
how long it takes me to grow. I would have grown more than this if I had given
in to the demands of some people. Am I not pretty?
I believe I have all
it takes to be an actress. Yes, you could say I am not the most beautiful girl
around. But I equally know that I am not the ugliest girl in Nollywood. I am pretty,
and I am willing to flaunt it to the world. Role model
I am crazy about
Stella Damasus in Nollywood. She is my role model and I want to be like her. On
the international scene, I love Beyonce. My man
Every girl wants to
be with a God-fearing man. So, my kind of man must be God-fearing and understanding.
He must be tall because I don’t like short men. Above all, I cannot live
with a wife beater.
Love life
My love life has been very interesting.
I truly love my man and I hope to settle down with him someday. But I also love
my career and I know that once I am married, that may be the end. That is the
only reason I am not married yet. |
