Popular Nollywood actress, Belinda Effah, tells Ademola Olonilua about her career and style
How did a graduate of Genetics and Bio Technology from the University of Calabar become an actress?
While I was studying Genetics and Bio
Technology, I had a passion for acting. While I was still in school, I
used to look for opportunity to act. I could be having a lecture and I
would hear of an audition somewhere, I would prepare myself for that
after my class. I was shuttling between acting and going to school. When
I completed my studies, I had to make the choice about what I wanted to
do with my life and the answer was to be an actor. I did not stumble
into acting.
If you loved acting that much why did you not study a course related to acting or humanities instead of sciences?
It is because I have the brain for it. I
always like to task myself. I had the passion for acting but I wanted
to explore other fields. I actually wanted to study Medicine and Surgery
but I was offered Genetics and Bio Technology. I have done courses in
acting so I keep improving my skills. It is not about studying Theatre
Arts; there are a lot of people that studied Theatre Arts and they are
working in banks. It is not about what you study.
Don’t you think you would have been richer if you practised what you studied in school?
Money is not everything, instead
satisfaction is. I am not complaining where I am right now. It could
have gone both ways. It could be that I would be richer and I could have
been poorer but I am happy where I am. The sky is my stepping stone.
Did your parents have any reservation about your career choice?
My parents have always been very
supportive. My late father had always been of the opinion that we should
go to school and get a degree. Once I have that in the bag, I can do
anything with my life. He was very supportive and he saw the progress I
was making so he was okay with it.
You had a stint with television presenting at Soundcity for a while, how did that happen?
Yes, I was a television presenter. You
know the way this industry is, a person starts from somewhere and ends
up elsewhere. Although I have always had a passion for acting, things
were not going the way I planned. I was on set of a television series, Young, Single and Free, by
Tejudeen Adepetu. One day, Adepetu came to the set to see what was
going on and he saw me. He told me I had the face to be on television
and asked if I had ever presented on the television. I told him I hadn’t
tried that and he urged me to give it a shot. He invited me for an
audition which I went for and I got the job. I did it briefly because it
was not something I wanted to do. That was why I did not stay with them
for too long. It was a stage I had to pass through and I loved the
experience.
If you did not like presenting that much, why did you air your own programme, Lunch Break with Belinda?
I was still trying to find my footing. I
was using it to while away time. In this movie industry, you try
different things. Some people go to the Yoruba movie industry because
the English movie industry is not working for them. They do it to stay
relevant; whatever works for you, do it.
It appears that you are not a big fan of make-up?
Too much make-up does not suit my face
and I do not want to lose what God created in me. I do minimal make-up,
with the help of a good make-up artist. Before any make-up artiste works
on my face, I tell her not to make me look like an expensive baboon and
make me lose my image. Some of them get it right while others don’t,
but it is still work in progress. There is something on the table that
would be revealed very soon, with time. Everybody has their brand
identity; some are very loud with their make-up but because of the
features of my face, I cannot be too loud with mine. Make-up does not
fit me so I am very subtle with it.
It also seems like you don’t like using accessories?
I don’t like accessories. While I was
growing up, my mother would adorn me with her gold and because I
mislayed a lot of her gold, she opted to buy the cheap ones for me. So
if I mislay them, she would not be pained. My skin always reacted to
those accessories; the earrings made me have sores on my ears and
because of that I had a phobia for jewellery. I felt like anything I
wear would not agree with my body if it is not gold.
Nowadays, the earrings are so heavy and
because I am not used to them, they give me headache. If I have to wear
them at all, they have to be something very subtle and after a while, I
would have to take them off because they would give me headache. I would
rather not bother myself. I am not a big fan of accessories and if I
must wear them, they have to be worth it. I only wear accessories like
wristwatch. If I must wear any accessory, it is because it complements
the outfit I am wearing and immediately after the event, I remove it.
Why do you like experimenting with your style especially your hair?
I am a very creative person and my mind
works like a clock when it comes to creativity. As an actor, you cannot
be a one-way street. Like they say, we are into showbiz, so I like to
experiment with the show aspect of the business. I am an African and I
am proud of it. I love to portray my African heritage to people through
fashion.
For instance, what influenced my Africa
Movies Viewer’s Choice Award look in 2015 was because a large part of
our African culture has been lost. I remember growing up, my mother used
to plait my hair with thread. But we have lost that culture. Nowadays
people are feeling like ‘oyinbo’, nobody wants to do something African.
It is so bad that people do not speak their languages anymore. Everyone
wants to be westernised. So I decided to do something more traditional
and that was why I went to the award ceremony with the Ankara fabric and
typical African hairdo.
You rock African attire a lot, is it deliberate?
We all wear jeans and go with the trend
that the westerners set for us; but I want to go with the African trend.
I look forward to having a clothing line where I use mainly African
stuff and it would be for mass market, you can just walk into a shop and
buy it. Maybe I am starting little and trying to create a brand out of
it so when my plans become a reality, people would have seen the big
picture. I want African fabrics to be in huge super stores home and
abroad. Let’s sell Africa to the world, we are talking about the foreign
exchange crisis; we are in this mess because we are not
producing or manufacturing instead we are consuming and this is why we
are at the mercy of the western world. If we start producing our own
things, our economy would improve.
You hardly show some skin, do you find anything wrong with it?
I treasure my body so much that I cannot
expose it. I don’t like exposing my body, I cannot do it. I can show
some skin, just a little, but nothing out of the ordinary.
How often do you work out?
I work out a lot and I love it. Working
out keeps me sane mentally, psychologically, it makes me active and
physically fit. I jog, use the treadmill and I also work on my abs.
How do you react to criticisms over your style especially on social media where people could be rude while airing their opinion?
Before I do anything I think about it
and weigh the pros and the cons. If it is something that is extreme, I
prepare my mind for it. Like that AMVCA outfit, I knew some people might
not understand and I might get a backlash so I was mentally prepared
for it. Mature minds would always know what I am trying to achieve but
the myopic ones would talk negatively. I am open to constructive
criticism but if you want to be rude, I would just ignore you.
What is your fashion fetish?
I am not too attached to anything; I am a very easy going person. I try not to be too attached to anything.
When it comes to your body, what do you see as an a
I would say my tummy, if I should add
weight; I always ensure that my belly does not get bigger. A bulging
belly takes the beauty out of one’s dressing. It does not allow the
clothe to fit you properly. I am very particular about my tummy. Also my
finger nails, I love to keep them clean because I hardly paint them. I
have very good nails and they have natural French tips and I get
compliments over them a lot.
What do you think about mini-skirts and bum shorts?
I love them.
But you hardly step out in them?
I love them and wear them at home but I
am a brand and a role model to a lot of people so whatever I wear could
influence those that look up to me. If I wear such regularly, what
message am I passing to them? It does not mean because I love them I
must always wear them in public places. If they don’t suit the occasion,
then there is no use wearing them. There was a movie premiere that I
wore a bum shorts but I wore it with long transparent socks. They had a
branded tee-shirt we had to wear and I wore the bum shorts on it to look
hip. I think outside the box and I wear clothes that are not too crass
and crude.
SOURCE:PUNCH
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