Whether we accept it or not, we have never seen a star like Genevieve Nnaji in Nigeria. She is the first of a new cadre of personalities Nigeria is producing, glamorous faces, icons every youngster aspires to be like. Nnaji has probably inspired more people to consider a career in acting than all the other popular Nigerian actors put together. She came across as very confident, even to the point of being impatient, but one can also argue that it is youthful exuberance. At 24, she’s barely just become a woman and now has this huge responsibility thrust upon her, to be the vanguard of a new class of celebrities created solely by a larger than life screen presence.

She will not talk about her daughter, aside of accepting that she has one. She believes she is protecting the girl from unnecessary media attention and speculation. Probably the sensible thing to do, considering the danger children of popular people can be exposed to in the world today.

She is a tough one to interview because she gives short answers and you have to keep on probing to get more out of her, but she got across as a friendly and warm individual. Her ideas are still in the formative stages, but she knows her own mind and is not afraid to voice it. She says it as it is, not one to pull punches. After reading this interview, you will either love her more or dislike her even more. She obviously wants the world to take her on her own terms.



Sola Osofisan: You’re a very very very popular young lady. Do you know that?

Genevieve Nnaji: I am beginning to realize that.

S.O.: Let’s talk about your fame. Sometimes, we ask for something, and then when we get it, we’re not sure we want it anymore. Did you ask for this fame? And now that you have it, do you still want it?

G.N.: I didn’t want the popularity. That wasn’t what I set out for. I set out to act because it’s something I enjoy doing. But the fame came with it. It’s there, the benefits are there, but that’s not what I set out for and that’s not what I’m doing here. I’m not here for the fame. I really do love my work.

S.O.: But now that you have the fame, do you still want it, considering you don’t have your privacy anymore?

G.N.: I try. I try. I try to have a bit of privacy for myself. I try.

S.O.: Does it ever get difficult, tiring, having to smile and say hello and greet everybody you meet on the street?

G.N.: No. No. Because people come up to me with different approaches and one way or the other, you just laugh at their excitement, the different expressions. But I don’t fake it when I smile. It comes naturally. If you make me smile, I smile. If I don’t find you funny, I don’t.

S.O.: Your website, I’ve been there a few times. Where did the idea come from to build a website?

G.N.: I was called by my manager, Media Business Company, Helen Prest-Ajayi – that’s what she does. She builds websites. She told me about the importance. With the speed of my popularity, I needed some form of communication, some form of medium to be able to reach out to my fans. It was a good idea. It’s like a portfolio for me. The idea came from her.

S.O.: Do you stop by your website? How many times a week do you stop by your website?

G.N.: It’s hard because I am extremely busy, but I try at least once a week to be there and personally, since I get so many mails, I read and try to see if there’s anyone different. They all have the same thing to say really, that they appreciate me and all. So I try my best to go through the ones I can and then send a general reply. I do.

S.O.: When I did an article on you a few weeks ago, there were just 3000 entries in the guestbook. This morning, it is over 10,000 entries. How do you respond to all these people?

G.N.: Yes. What I’m doing is I’m planning to make the best use of it, since I have so many people on my site. I’m trying to make it more interesting, more like a TV show on the Internet. I’m going to be running games on my show. I’m going to be asking questions to find out how well they know me. There’s going to be gifts. There’s going to be prizes. The one thing I know they all want is to meet me.

As time goes on, I intend to run a charity program which I will involve as many people as I can. I also intend to update it because it has been running as a test for the past five months since I opened it. I just wanted to know if people would react to it properly, if they would embrace it, because it’s quite expensive running a website. So, I’m satisfied now that people like the idea and I’m encouraged. Now, I intend to update my fans on my activities, especially my work. Even outside my work. Let them know about everything I do, functions I attend, awards I receive and stuff like that.

It’s going to be hard because I can’t do all that and be on location shooting at the same time, attending different functions and all that. What I try to do is get pictures and do a write up on different places and different events. That’s what I intend to do. Just fill them in on my lifestyle.