actress, singer & Amnesty International activist Omotola
Jalade Ekeinde talks about her fears, being scandal-free and
also shares her success story. Find excerpts from the
interview below...
Can you give us tips on how to be a successful woman?
It actually starts with character, personality and what
beliefs. Everything wrong today actually started from the
content of a character. Are you immoral or are you
straight forward enough to actually say something and
carry through with it. Is the content of your character
strong enough? I believe that for you to be great in
anything, you have to be someone anyone can trust.you
believe in. It stems from your moral. Continue...
Can you define what success means to you?
I think success is when God is happy with you. When the
closest people around you are happy with you and when
your soul is at peace with you.
Looking back, what has been your greatest achievement?
I have so many great achievements and I am very grateful to
God. I can talk about great achievements today because
God has empowered me to build my character. At no point
did I see all these coming. I never said, 'let me start being a
good girl so that in the future, they will call me to speak, not
only on Nollywood but also in mentorship capacity outside
Nollywood'. I never said 'okay, let me be a good girl so
that Time magazine will make me a Time 100 woman'; I
never thought about all these things. But by God`s grace, I
am here today. He taught me to follow a particular life
pattern when I was young. And I am grateful that pattern
has brought me this far. My greatest achievement is that I
got to know God on time; it was a great privilege.
Do you ever cry?
Yes, I am an actress and I cry all the time.
Could you share with us your fears and something that has
made you cry lately?
Don't believe me when I cry because I might actually be
trying to get something out of you (Laughter). My husband
says he doesn't know when to take me serious, whether it's
when I am crying or sober. But I am naturally a very
emotional person, quite frankly. I hate injustice; I can't stand
it. When I see somebody who is helpless, I feel like that
person's humanity has been taken away from him and that
makes me cry.
Can you tell us about the movies you have featured lately?
It's Blood in The Lagoon, a movie about social inequality. On
the one side you have Makoko, a cesspool of poverty,
deprivation and crime, and on the other side, just across the
lagoon you have Ikoyi and Victoria Island's dwellers living in
splendor and enjoying exotic lifestyles.
Where did you belong growing up, Makoko or Victoria
Island?
Not practically but theoretically. Yeah, we have all gone
through that sort of situation at one point or the other in our
lives. Somebody has looked down on you somewhere along
the way no matter who you are, and that's why I can relate
with my character.
Tell us your own story?
At a stage, people looked down on me. They tried to deny
me my credit and make me feel insecure. But you know you
deserve what you get as long as you have worked hard
enough. So, no matter what you are going through, you're
not the only person facing tragedy in life; it happens to
everyone.
When you look back, is there any role you played that you
feel uncomfortable watching today?
There is always the need to improve. I mean… I hardly
watch my own movies. I really can't; it will kill me. I can't
watch my movies with people, especially my husband
because I get on his nerves all the time. We'd be watching
this movie and before you know it, I'd be chattering and he
would be like 'hey, can you just shut up and let us watch the
movie!' You know, I would keep saying to myself, 'oh my
God! I would have turned that way; I shouldn't have said it
that way. Oh my God why should I keep repeating that?
Why should I keep blinking my eyes?'
What is the craziest thing a fan has done to you?
There are so many, as many as you can imagine. But my
fans are very respectful and lovely and they could be very
crazy too. But they have not done anything to harm me.
Would you allow your daughters to follow in your
footsteps?
Why not, if they want to? I actually encourage them to be
whatever they desire to be in life as long as it is not
something wrong and negative. Currently, none of them is
interested in acting, but if they do, I will support and equip
them with whatever tools they need to excel. Unfortunately,
none has for now.
What advice do you have for young people looking up to
you?
Put in everything you have and believe in something. My
point is that you should be passionate about something.
Don't sit on the fence; we have so many people sitting on the
fence. Most importantly, set high standards and connect to
high self-esteem. We all need each other. We all need
someone to help us up when we are down.
How do you stay scandal free?
People will always speculate about you and it could be very
disheartening, especially when you have chosen to live right.
I don't want to sound like some holier-than-though whatever,
but I work very hard to keep my brand away from scandals.
I have fought. I have had to and I will not accept for you to
humiliate me before everybody'. Often they try to be
mischievous but I stick to my guns. Oftenstand and say, 'hey!
This is what I stand for times they have also turned around to
say sorry. For heaven's sake, I am responsible for the actions
and decisions that I take.
If not acting, what would you be doing?
Since I am not God, I don't know. But a lot of people say I
should have been a lawyer. And maybe I could have been
one because I love to advocate. Or maybe, I could have gone
into real estate business because I studied estate
management; estate management would have come
naturally.
What has fame denied you?
Fame has denied me a lot. I can't stop on the way and buy
anything I want. I'm like, 'hey, give it to me' and they will
rush over, give it to me and I will zoom off. Every celebrity
has this challenge. It depends on who you are and how you
want to handle it. I would like to go to the market and buy
whatever I want but I can't. And I can't go around with
bodyguards.
What is your favourite food?
No, I don't have favourite food. I eat anything I want to eat.
What determines your fashion style?
Comfort and how I feel.
What project are you working on currently?
Right now, I am working on building my film village. It's an
awesome project.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
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