If you are coming to Nollywood for money, you will regret it -Queen Nwaokoye, actress

'Passion for acting  made me remain in Nollywood; not money'

One very thing the Nollywood actress Queen Nwaokoye is certain about is that passion is the very thing that brought so many known faces into the movie world. She asserted that many have remained in the Nigerian movie world and went through thick and thin because of same sizzling passion for acting. She insisted that she is  one of those that came into Nollywood because of true love for acting. “It is passion that made me remain in Nollywood,” she enthused.

Some who desire to join the movie industry to make large junk of money  within a short space of time may not like this bitter truth from an actress who was prominent in such  movies  as Ada Mbano and  Ada-ure. “If you are coming in for money, you may most probably regret it.  Even some of us who are there, I don’t think we make a lot of money in acting movies; I believe it is just the passion for it. So, when you join the industry, be prayerful and work hard. Love what you are doing and leave the rest to God,” she enthused.

There are some roles this sultry actress may not want to interpret. “They are roles that are not challenging.  But as long as it is challenging, give it to me, I would gladly accept it and interpret it well. I don’t think there is any role I would turn down provided it is challenging. And when I said challenging, I meant something that would task my intellect and my acting capabilities. For instance the most difficult movie I have ever acted was‘Adure’ with‘Ada Mbano’ as sequel. Why this movie seemed so difficult for me was because I am from Anambra State and had to act like a village girl from Mbano in  Imo State. It wasn’t easy  to speak the Imo State dialect of Igbo language. It was really tough for me because I don’t understand that kind of Igbo properly. I even had to learn the language on set from the director of the movie. So it was challenging for me. I took my time to learn the language word-to-word, so as not to make mistakes in anyway. I rehearsed almost everyday until I was perfect before shooting the movie. Till date, that has been the most challenging movie ever since I started acting. And guess what? I speak the Mbano version of Igbo language very fluently now,” she nodded.

She relieved her new days in Nollywood. “It was in 2004 that I joined the movie world. I just watched a movie, I can’t remember who was in the movie now but it was beautiful. So, I decided to try my hands on that. That was when I featured in a movie titled Nna Men, which was a comedy movie that was shot in 2004. And since then, roles have been flowing in. But to be candid, I didn’t want to be an actress from the beginning. It wasn’t a dream I nursed. I wanted to be a lawyer. In fact, I read Sociology and Anthropology at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), but today, I am an actress. Besides, I knew my parents wouldn’t have allowed me  go into acting because I grew up in a religious family. My parents were very strict on me and my siblings, particularly my mother. She was a vice principal of a school and very disciplined. So acting was not in my mind while growing up and I never believed I was going to be an actress. But  after my youth service, when I finished school and I had no job, I started thinking in that direction. I watched a movie. That was actually my first time of sitting down and watching a Nigerian movie. I got interested. I was impressed. I started going for auditions and I finally got my first role. I wanted to just dust my certificate and go and look for a job. It was that day that I saw one director, Andy Chukwu who gave me the lead role in his movie. He said he was looking for somebody who would act as a virgin in that movie and act it so convincingly. He saw me and he felt I could do it. After that job, I started getting other jobs."