“Labour room experience? Let me spare you the details. But the only thing that kept me going till the last minute my baby came was my husband.”
Tony Ogaga
Barely a year after actress-turned-filmmaker, Salma Aminu tied the knot; she became a mother of a bouncing baby boy. And her joy knew no bounds.
However, Salma, who’s married to fellow actor Vincent Opurum, claimed that being a mum and actress is not a tea party. In this chat, the star of Drift Beyond Conscience opens up on her marriage, labour room drama and the lessons of motherhood. Enjoy it.
You had your first baby a couple of weeks back. How does it feel being a mother?
This is a totally different feeling; another human being now depends solely on me. Being a mother is the sweetest thing ever.
Could you share your labour room experience with us?
Hmmm, labour room experience? Let me spare you the details. But the only thing that kept me going till the last minute my baby came was my husband. He kept saying ‘baby hang on, I am here, we’ll push together.’ Initially, I’d say to myself ‘what’s he saying when I know I will feel the pain alone?’ But when the real pain came, those words helped me through. And yeah, we really pushed together because, trust me, men also feel the pain when they are with you in the labour room.
Now that you’re a mother, how are you coping and what new lessons have you learnt?
It’s not easy being a mother, especially of a newborn baby, because you no longer have the luxury of planning your activities yourself; the baby plans for you. Whatever you’re doing has to be in favour of your baby. I’ve learnt that time is essential. As a mother, there’s no need to procrastinate because you might not have the time you need when you think you have it. Your time is no longer yours (laughter).
Lots of actors say they can’t marry their colleagues but that is exactly what you did. What attracted you to Vincent Opurum and how did you both hook up?
Marrying someone in the same field as mine is the best decision I’ve ever made. We met on set and it wasn’t love at first sight because I thought differently of him; our relationship was built from friendship.
How did he pop the question?
Our relationship grew from friendship to love. From the moment we started dating, I knew he was the one, from his words and actions. But as an African woman, I had to wait until he popped the question (laughter). He did that last November.
Now that you are a wife and mother, what happens to your career? Are you going to quit acting?
What happens to my career? How? It goes on. Does marriage or kids kill career? That’s the sweet thing about marrying your friend; I just need to adjust my timetable to meet up with my family demands.
There has been so much talk about your movie, Traits. What is happening to it?
I know a lot of people have been so impatient about Traits. But it’s coming out soon. Remember, we did two movies at the same time, Traits and Quest. The team is meeting up soon to finalise which of them is going to the cinema and which is going to TV. Traits was originally meant for the cinemas, but it has to be a team decision this time.
What are your dreams?
My dream is to build a business empire around my family.
What advice do you have for fellow actresses looking forward to settling down but have not found Mr. Right?
My advice to actresses who really want to settle down is this: look beyond the money, your Mr. Right might just be standing next to you.