Her name may not instantly ring a bell but her face is synonymous with Nollywood. This fair complexioned actress who holds a diploma in Public Relations from the Ogun State University and a degree in Sociology from the Lagos State University, is working hard towards becoming an A-list actress.
With over 20 movies to her credit, this Isoko indigene from Delta State is not resting on her oars to see that the movie industry returns to it’s old glory.To achieve this, she eats, drinks, sleeps and lives acting because it is her first love.Okurame told Saturday Sun that if she was not an actress, she would have found herself a field job but not in the corporate world.The busty actress, who is the last child of a family of seven, also hinted that she would soon walk down the aisle with her dream man. She also spoke about her passion for the industry, her career, boyfriend, the thrills and many more.ActingI got into acting because of my passion for it. Right from the onset, I always had the passion for acting. Maybe, I did not start early or maybe because I did not meet the right people but I was into modelling where I met a guy who was interested in acting too.He suggested we went to the National Theatre to register. We got there and registered through Obot Etuk who was one of the executives of AGN. That was in 2004. I had to go for some screening before I got the first job, Schemers, which was directed by Andy Chukwu and Mike Ojabo. It had other stars like Keppy Ekpenyong Bassey, Rita Dominc, Bimbo Akintola and others.Rewarding professionTo some extent, if you are determined and if it is your choice too. If you are humble and hard working, you will find it rewarding. Don’t look at the financial gains first.Most times, people think that they can get half a million naira for a job, especially for starters but it is not so. It is a gradual thing.Although I take less than N500,000, but people who earn N1m today have paid their dues. They were once paid N1000 in the years gone by. You will eventually enjoy it but you must be able to work hard and pay your dues, too.Inspired into actingNobody actually inspired me. It has always been a passion right from when I was in secondary school. I was also an athlete. I had no role model before I got into the industry. I was not influenced by anyone either. It is the passion. I started in the days when Morning Ride was produced on NTA. Maybe, if I had started earlier, I would have been an a-list actress earning big money now.Role modelI have three, Patience Ozokwor, Kate Henshaw and Liz Benson. I have worked with them and I used to see Liz Benson when she acted in Third Eye as Alero.When I got to the industry, they welcomed me with open arms and taught me how to deliver my lines. They taught me how to make corrections on set and how to keep my head very low. If I have any problem, I would go to them and ask for their advice and they would gladly oblige me. The person that I am not too close with now is Liz Benson because she is far from the industry. We don’t even communicate. It hurts me but what will I do? She is so busy with her career as an EvangelistFirst experience on setIt was terrible. I was so tensed up. It was my first job where I featured in Schemers as Blessing. There was this day that we were shooting and I mixed up my lines and it was a bit complicating that everybody was upset and the director wanted to throw me out but Dominic helped to calm him down.If it were some A-list actresses, they would have been pissed up because I just didn’t get it right but she took her time to help me with my lines. She even offered me drink to calm my nerves. Her encouragement helped me to work with other new comers. I also learnt to teach them as well.WorksI have featured in many movies, some of which included, Stolen Bible, Carcass, Super Warriors, Apostle of Hell, The Last Order, Family Passion, My love my Sorrow, Desperate Sister, Rush Hour, Pride of a Woman, Marriage Apart, Women in Power, Dangerous Gambling, Temple of Justice, Sisters Heart, Bye Bye to Poverty, Political Control, and The last from Germany.Most challenging roleI have three of them. The first one is The Last Order. I played the role of a police officer’s wife and I was always beating my husband. I was always fighting. I wouldn’t feed him well to the extent that my director, Dickson Iroegbu asked me if I actually beat my boyfriend at home. I did it so well that I lost my voice.Another one, My Love, My Sorrow was a wayward role. I played the role of a Warri girl where I was supposed to be married and still flirt around, fighting my husband’s friend, fighting my own boyfriend’s friends, scheming, running in the street with pistol and I lost my voice as well.The third one is Rush Hour. It was so challenging because there was fuel scarcity at that time and it was during the rainy season. It is a cult movie. I was a cultist and was trying to initiate my friends and most of my scenes are being shot late in the night. We went into the forest to shoot. We were badly bitten by mosquitoes. We were in the forest with knives and guns. We worked with people like Nonso Diobi, Uche Jombo, Oge Okoye, Mac Morris. We did it well and it came out beautiful. I have never done any job like that.Aside actingI would have been an athlete. A lot of people know me in my neighbourhood as anAthlete. I was in sprinting. I also do some business. I also manage a hair saloon.Couple of years from nowI want to see myself bigger than this. Playing more challenging role not only in Nigeria but outside the shores of this country, probably win an award and if possible, produce some jobs.I also want to ask the government to assist us to excel more in our production. Right now, there is a little hitch here and there. There is crisis between the Censors Board and marketers.Though, Censors Board is trying to make the marketers realize that they are doing us a favour. If the government comes in and invests in a production, we wouldn’t be having the crisis we are having now. It happens all over the world where the government supports the movie industry in their country but here, they leave it in the hands of marketers and they have even tried so much.It is not easy to invest, N10m, or N6m, in a production you don’t even know whether it will yield profit. You don’t even know if you are going to get your money back. So, most times, it is difficult when you find out that some marketers are at loggerheads with the Censor’s Board. I believe that they should come to an understanding so that we can work together. Right now, the industry is going down but I know it is for a while. It will bounce back soon.HookedI am not hooked neither am I married but I have a boyfriend who is into business.I cherish all parts of my body because I take time to take care of myself. My boyfriend tells me that he likes my boobs. He cherishes my understanding and being able to take care of him. We would soon get married.AdviceThey should be determined. If truly, they want to come into this industry, they should very low profile; learn and try to listen to people, and take corrections. A lot of them do not like to take corrections even the big actors also make mistakes. They should calm down, be respectful, take corrections, try and read their lines very well and interact with people. They should also be patient because one learns everyday.Coping with male admirersIt is not easy but I still manage to handle them. Most of them don’t even know what they want. They just chat unnecessarily. Some of them are rude. Some are respectful. Sometime, you cannot give all of them your attention. Some of them get obsessed with you and they are just your fans. You have to caution them and tell them off politely. Some of them would call you up at odd hours when you are with your loved ones giving the impression that something is actually going on.And that is the interesting thing I like about my boyfriend. He understands me and knows that the messages are from admirers and that I have nothing to do with them.When calls keep coming up like that, it gives room for suspicion. I meet a lot of them everyday and I thank them for appreciating me but most time, they don’t know how to go about it. There was this interview I granted last year, the producer mistakenly put my number on the phone and the whole Nigeria was calling me. My picture was in the paper. And some would be sending me some funny and stupid messages as if you are looking for a boyfriend. Even agberos call me. I had to dump that number.
Read more…
