'Life For Me Is One Step At A Time'
BY SHAIBU HUSSEINI
Nse Ikpe -Etim's phones have not stopped ringing since the it was announced that she would be competing for honours in the best-actress-in-a-lead-role category of the this year's edition of the African Movie Academy Award (AMAA). Fans and close friends of the deep actress of Ibibio stock have been buzzing her to congratulate her for a feat, which they agree she deserves. Nse's masterful portrayal of Omoze, the housewife who had a randy husband to contend with in Reloaded, a movie that was jointly signed by Emem Isong and Desmond Elliot, caught the attention of the AMAA jury and earned the actress and writer, who is mostly attracted to challenging roles and plausible stories, a nomination in the prestigious continental award scheme. An actress and star of one of the earlier Nollywood efforts Venom of Justice who craves privacy and who says she will rather be herself than the star in the last film, Nse is believed by many to have given her role in the gripping encounter that is Reloaded such expert interpretation that the movie must have benefited a lot from her presence on set. All the scenes that the product of the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Calabar was involved in came out rather too real, too blatant and too convincing. Indeed, it will take only a well- trained actress to come out as convincing as Nse did in Reloaded, which starred Ramsey Noah, Stephanie Okereke, Van Vicker and Ini Edo, all in lead roles.
A trained thespian that enjoys the peace of travelling and culinary expressions, Nse, to those who have encountered her is a bundle of talent. They hold that her artistic carriage, good diction, captivating screen presence and training will continue to place her in the lead. They also say that the resourceful, warm- hearted, disarmingly humble and versatile artiste represents for them a gem and diamond who will remain at the top rung as long as she keeps to the scoring tactics she exhibited in Reloaded?
Background:
I am a simple girl from Akwa Ibom State. I read Theatre Arts from the University of Calabar. I went into banking after school and then did some work as a broadcaster. I sold male clothing and worked a bit as a company representative here in Abuja. So I have been through a lot of industries-banking, television, just name it. I was doing well in the movie industry but stepped out when I became really scared about my future. So I took off the same year after I did Venom of Justice. I was in the second part of the movie. I just felt it wasn't for me. I mean acting full time. I did that because I was still something of a rebel. I wanted to prove a point to my mother that I wanted to be a banker. I still went off but I came back. My mom did not think it was good enough at that time. But as time went on my mom understood and today I think she is my greatest supporter. She is very happy. She thinks everyone should do what makes them happy. So if you wake up in my house now and you say you want to be a farmer, trust me, mummy is going to support you. So I think I got the first support from her. Then my friend Jetta Amata kept harassing me. He kept telling me to leave other industries for the proper industry and I was like what is proper about it. Then Emem Isong came along and applied same pressure too. So I started from my writing-scriptwriting and screen writing and then to acting. But I write mainly and have little time for acting. I wrote My Brother, My Keeper for Jetta Amata. I also did with a couple of others including Amina which is what we are actually shooting now in Zaria. Jetta is handling that. And I was honoured Jetta asked me to be his assistant director so now it means I have graduated from acting and I am trying my hands on directing. So I have been around
Playing Omoze
Those characters were playing out real life situations. I mean, you can find Omoze, which was the character I played in the movie anywhere, same for the character Stephanie Okereke played. There is actually someone we know who went through what the character Stephanie played went through in the movie. We even tried to make it sound lighter. From our finding, the lady actually had seven abortions and it was in three years. We made it sound as though it was more years for a lesser thing because it was going to sound unrealistic but the truth is that these things happen. So, we used her story and spoke to a lot of people. We had our friend Bola Aduwo who helped in the research. She spoke to a lot of people. We spoke to women who felt that they had to harass the girls because their men cheated on them. When Emem insisted I would act, I chose the character Stephanie Okereke played because I felt that I could relate to the pain and she said no, I should play Omoze. At the end I picked up the role and did all the screaming, the shouting and close marking and I won't say I am like that in real life. I have not had anything close to that. I just bumped into the character and I just allowed the woman in me play out herself. You know women sense a lot of things. A cheating husband knows his wife knows. She probably hasn't confronted him. But I did not play myself in the movie. I simply assumed a character and merged two acting styles- Stanislavski and avant-garde in my delivery and that is wearing the shoes of the character and actually allowing anything to happen. I am happy it turned out well...I am just glad that it turned out well. At least it earned me a nomination and that is because some people felt I did well. Thanks to Emem who insisted I play the role and I am grateful to God for the nomination.
The nomination is an honor but I tell you that satisfying my audience is far the biggest reward ever. I hope to put in 200% for them each time. They should look out for some of the jobs I have done. I did Guilty Pleasures recently with Emem and played alongside Ramsey Noah and Majid Michael. There is another one Edikan which is actually in my language. It's in Ibibio and I am proper Ibibio.
Nollywood And Screen Playing
I am not going to blame us the artistes. I am going to say that we need to be given the conducive environment to think. We don't have it. So, no matter how much you think, you can't think outside the box. So it's not really our problem because if you notice, a lot of us creative people leave the country and we are better. So, we are not the problem. I think we all have to come together to build an industry that is going to last longer than oil. If someone has few bucks, he should throw it in. Let's work together. If you dump me in a village without light and so on and say write, I am not going to write. Put me in a place that is conducive and my creative muse will be awake all day. I mean you cannot create if you are not comfortable. I think if we dissect our industry properly and infuse the right things in it, in 10 years, we will be competing with other film societies. Inspiration
I draw my inspiration from God and from the things around me. I recall once I took a long trip to Aba in Abia State to buy fabrics by road from Abuja and I wrote an article and everyone I showed told me it was not bad and then Jetta Amata, my friend for over 13 years now read one of them and asked where I culled it from and I said I didn't cull it. I wrote it. That was it for me. I needed something to push me and that happened and I needed someone to encourage me, which also happened. We have rich stories in Nigeria. Things happen here every day. Things happen within our lives, things happen outside. It will be amazing if any one says I don't know that the story of Reloaded exists. But it happens.
Will It Be Theatre Again For Nse?
It will be theatre again because you are allowed certain kinds of freedom to express yourself. I like to express myself. I like to be who I want to be and that's how I was brought up. And talking about growing up, it was fun. I grew up in Zaria, we moved on to Kaduna and then Jos, from there to Ilorin and from Ilorin to Lagos before I went to the University in Calabar. I have virtually been on the move, gathering information, educating myself but now I live in Abuja.
Career Ambition
To be the best cook in the world (loud laugher). Serious, I love cooking. My story will be the story of that chic that acts and cooks. Cooking for me is art and so, it's all in the same line. That's my sole ambition even though I love acting. I will sure get to my height if God permits me. I have come to realize that it's a step at a time. It's only here that you hear people say that they are unhappy because they are 40 and cannot afford to buy a car. Elsewhere it is I am living my life and I am happy at 40, so life goes on. That's how I have taken life. That's how it should be. As for financial reward, money will come when it will come. You start, you are good and you will be appreciated. I have been appreciated a lot. In terms of pains of the profession, I don't think it is different from the fad; boy meet girl, hey you are cool. It's left to the girl to say hey I want or I don't want. I think it is the same thing. Yeah, we get a lot more attention but sometimes it is not because people necessarily want to date you, they just want to know you and there is nothing wrong with that.
