By VIVIAN ONYEBUKWA
Lisa Onu came into Nollywood as a student in 2001 when she featured in ‘Stubborn Grasshopper’. After graduation, she went on sabbatical twice before finally returning to her first love. Now a producer with a new film, ‘Busted,’ Onu speaks about the flick that dwells on the vices of same sex marriage as well as other issues. Enjoy.
Tell us about yourself
I had always wanted to be an actress. While in school, I was very lively. I was in the drama club. In my first year, I went for the audition that a lot of people didn’t want to do, but I did it. We were told to be in our swimsuits, some said they could not but I told them that I would, and the director asked me to help get others who could do it. I eventually brought my friends and we featured in the movie, ‘Stubborn Grasshopper.’ It is about the life and times of a late Head of State. That was my very first movie. It was shot in 2001. Then scripts started coming but I was in school and I had so much respect for my dad, and respect comes with fear. I was thinking if I traveled to Aba, Port Harcourt, Enugu etc., I might not be able to meet up and the lecturers were on my case. I decided to finish what I came for.
Between 2001 and 2008, I didn’t shoot any movie. When I returned from my NYSC, I did a couple of corporate jobs. Then, when I watched movies I would say ‘oh I brought this person into the industry, I know this person and everyone is doing well. This is my talent, this is what God gave to me’. Eventually, I gave up my job in Abuja and came back to Lagos. And the first job I got was a television series entitled, ‘A Love Like Ours’ produced by Ralph Nwadike. After that, I called my uncle, Frank Dallas, who is a veteran in Nollywood, that I was ready for the industry. In those days, he would always tell me to finish my studies first. Also, I met aunty Liz Benson at a function and she gave me Chico Ejiro’s contact and told me that he was the man she knew that could help me. But I decided to call my uncle first, and he said I should come. I came and behold, I met Chico Ejiro with him. So, Ejiro’s first jobs I did were ‘Treasures’ and ‘True Legends’. I was mostly doing TV series and commercials. I did Honeywell soup seasoning, Ariel, Carat soap, and Glo TV adverts before I went into movies, and the ones I can remember are City Life, Heart of a Woman, Beyond the Eyes, and Passion of Life.
I then thought of starting a family. I left the industry in 2011 to have my baby and later I started working in the corporate world. I worked in two oil and gas firms. I was doing very well but the passion did not let me be. Each time somebody put on Africa Magic, I got angry. One day, I had to talk to myself. I realised that the real thespians are people who have the passion to do what they want to do. They don’t seem to care about the money. They are better off with what they do, and before they realise it, they discover that what they are doing has given them so much money, and that is what I have been passing through. I thought of how to start afresh but I decided against it, because Lisa of 2011 is no longer the Lisa of today, she has added four more inches and so on.
I resigned and shot my first movie, ‘Different Women’ in 2015. I realised that film production is not a child’s play. In fact, I was ill after my first job. But I decided to take it headlong. I produced another one, ‘Anambra Na Imo’. It’s a movie that was shot in Asaba and directed by Iyke Odife. So, before shooting ‘Busted’, I have done a couple of movies with Frank Dallas. I was an associate producer.
What is ‘Busted’ all about?
‘Busted’ is about the vices of same sex marriage; the bill passed on same sex marriage in Nigeria and the nonchalant attitude of parents to it.
What informed this movie?
I was actually sitting down with my investor, (the executive producer), and my sister, and the topic came up. We started arguing about it because I went to a boarding school. I live in a home and I have friends and we all talk. We realised that some people actually do not know that a law exists against same sex marriage, and some know but they don’t understand. Being a thespian, we decided to put it into writing and let it flow.
Can you give us a synopsis of the story?
It is about a girl that has a strict father, and a mother who is concerned only about her job. Her own is just to provide for her daughter. She thinks that is what the world is all about. And the father, on the other side, feels that his job is only to protect his daughter against the boys, not knowing that certain things happen and you need to be close to your children.
In our time, fathers were known to be their daughters’ best friends. They actually knew their daughters more than the sons. So, the father regularly disciplines her and the mother whom she tries to talk to never has the time for that. To her, she has been kicked out. Meanwhile, she has a brother who lives his own lifestyle, and as an elder brother, he never has time for her.
She attends a mixed school, but her father sees her with a gang of boys and decides to change her school to an all-girls school. That is where the violation starts, which eventually leads to an end that isn’t pleasant. The rest is in the flick.
Who are the cast members?
The cast members are Kate Henshaw, Liz Benson, Paul Obazele, Chika Kalu, Janile, and Biola Obioma among others. Yes, I played Sherifat, the woman who initiated Blessing and the other girls into lesbianism. We have two directors on this job. They are Pat Ogre Imobhio and Damijo Efe Young. The crew is fantastic.
Which accessory can you not do without?
I’m a jewelry person. I love jewelries and I also trade on jewelries. I cannot do without my bling bling. I could do anything to get a wristwatch I love. I will work so hard to get it. But then, I am not the type that throws away money just because I want to be flashy.
Aside moviemaking, what else do you do?
I’m also a businesswoman. In the past, I used to smoke. These are habits you curtail; you try to break out of everything. I have this tool called ‘Evaporizer’. Smoking kills, it causes lung cancer and all that. When you light up a cigarette, you cause chaos wherever you are. You can’t even smoke indoors. When I was in London, I saw a lot of people giving up smoking. The one that I deal on is called ‘Africa Vaprez’. I’m one of its distributors in Nigeria. It is one of the products that I market.