She strolls quite leisurely into the busy newsroom, treading the floor with a heavy gait. As she enters, every eye attractively turns and fixes on her.

The air stood still. Every attention is arrested, not just because of her bewitching smiles or her simple dress to kill posture but because of her imposing and irresistible nature. She walked from end of the newsroom to the other, causing momentous scene that leaves her admirers gazing at her endlessly as she strolls out of the newsroom the same way she came in. Meet Genevieve Nnaji, the fastest rising actress in Africa who appears somewhat romantic and imitable on screen.

She is indeed a delight to behold. Off the screen and in real life, soft spoken with an aura of joviality around her, one cannot but wonder if she is the same Genevieve that is given to playing horrible romantic roles on screen. "I see acting as fulfilling to me. It is my vocation," she says with almost an infectious smile. "The part I play on screen are not really me. I came into acting because of the love I have for the profession".

World of make-belief

Genevieve who was on a courtesy visit to Vanguard corporate office, in Lagos last week, revealed that life for her have been very dramatic and at same time eventful since launching herself 10 years ago into the mainstream world of make-belief.

"I must say that life has been very dramatic. It has been quite eventful. It also has its ups and downs. But above all, I thank God for whatever I have been able to achieve over the years. For me, it has been quite fulfilling being a popular actress", she reminisced.

Even as she claimed that acting has made her more responsible and a celebrity, it has at the same time had its ups and downs."Ups in the fact that I am able to do what I want to do which is acting. It is fulfilling for me. The fact that people do appreciate what I have been doing, my work and my personality, that is fulfilling on its own. But in terms of the downs, yes!, as a celebrity and a popular actress, people tend to misjudge my character as a person and what role I play on screen", Genevieve said, adding that, for her, the only way to move on in life is "to always learn to hold on to the good things that have come one’s way rather than the bad things. Life is all about progress."

The Mbaise born actress believes the home video industry is still trying to find its right footing. According to her, while the industry is still trying to give its best, there is need to improve on the quality of the local movies."Most people are still having fun watching movies," she says, adding "we are still trying to find our ground in the movie industry but there is need for improvement on the quality of our movies."

The wave-making actress who only recently delved into music as another of her hobbies expressed regret that against her conscience and upbringing, people always mis-present her true person to the roles she plays on screen. Asked if there is any way her personal life has come between the roles she plays on screen, for full minutes, she chuckles her eyes journeying around the entire office, "Em No!... but, you know that when you are expressing anger or love in a movie, you are expected to express the anger or love the way you wouldn’t in real life".

"I don’t think I have played any role that is exactly my character in real life. But you have to cry or laugh as you used to, in real life to be able to perfect the make-belief notion. You can’t imitate any person in that situation. But the story lies on how you are able to handle a particular situation in a movie, how you react to certain issues and situations are not necessarily the way you will probably handle such situation in real life."

According to Genevieve, what she considers as her first step to professionalism as an actress is the new movie she is co-starring with Joke Silva titled, "30 -Days." The movie which is due to hit the screen later in the year is a collaborative effort between Temple Productions, owned by Ego Boyo and a US-based film productions company also, managed by Mildred Okwo who trained as an actress at the University of Benin before she proceeded to the United States where she read a second degree in Law. "This is one movie that I am living part of my real life into it. It is a movie that has to do with a lot of physical exercise. We had to do a lot of mental and physical training. It is one movie that all the casts and crew took their time to ensure that they did everything to perfection and to the best of their abilities. It is quite tedious and interesting but I think, it's worth its while,"she narrated, adding: "I enjoy doing everything in that movie to perfection. I have once pointed out that every movie comes with its own challenges because you are compelled to play different characters at a time".

Genevieve, who was flanked by Mildred Okwo is making her dramatic re-entry into the acting profession after taking time off the screen for a while. She hinted that the new movie," 30-Days" is a political drama of sort which focuses on the role of women in our society. According to her, the movie, shot in Lagos and Abuja parades such tested hands in Nollywood as Segun Arinze, Kunle Coker, Gbenga Richards, Nobert Young and Joke Silva, amongst other casts.

On how she delved into music, the thriller actress revealed that even though her producer inspired her to go into music, that it was a deal between herself and her producer. "The album is my producer’s album. It was a deal between us. The producer heard me sing in the past and being impressed, he approached me to do an album which I later subscribed to.

"Music is something I have always cherished, even before I started acting. I discovered my talent in music first before I went into acting. The originality of my song is what inspired my producer to want to approach me for a deal,"she explained. Though, Genevieve’s debut album with the title "No More", already making wave in the music world for her is an expression of the other side of her life as a prodigious talent .

Genenieve's tune suddenly changed to something of weird, when she was asked jokingly, if she will subscribed to acting nude on screen. "If I had to be challenged, yes!. I mean going nude there are so many other ways in which an actress can go nude. If you are saying that as an African girl, you are making a movie that will capture the days when nobody walk nude, yes ,if that makes sense. But if one is to do it personally and it works, fine, I can do it". she declared.

Rising musician

She believes that being an actress and a rising musician of sort, her profession has indeed, denied her the joy of living a normal life devoid of invasion of her privacy. To this, she says, "Even though acting is my vocation and has helped to make me more responsible and a celebrity, it has equally denied me the right to live the way I would have loved to live my life. A lot of people want to associate with you. You can not live a normal life. You don’t have your privacy again. It appears you are no longer human" she said, adding that " I am actually a very rare gem. I like to just react naturally to any situation. I believe, everybody has a right to his or her feelings and freedom to express oneself without interference.

 Also, reacting to whether she would like to star in Hollywood, if given a chance to do so, Genevieve asserts,"I want Hollywood to come to Nollywood. It’s not that I can not act in Hollywood. But for the fact that I have my root here, my parents are very much alive and my siblings, my cultural background, I don’t think I can take up the challenges in Hollywood. We are not African-Americans, we are purely Africans by birth."

Genevieve says one of the qualities of a good actress or actor remains that of the ability to act with someone you ordinarily wouldn’t have loved under normal circumstances to mingle with. She also claimed that acting remains an integral part of her family members."My parents are artistic. In terms of music, drumming and singing, I am the only actress in my family, but there are my other siblings who are into music and other areas of the arts.

By  BENJAMIN NJOKU & PRINCE OSUAGWU
Posted to the Web: Sunday, September 04, 2005