Super Saturday april 18, 2021

Uzor Aniunoh
I’m Still the Same Girl, Maybe with a Little More Money
Uzoamaka Aniunoh came to the limelight as ‘Cynthia’ on MTV Shuga and has since appeared in other great films. Uzor, as she’s fondly called, took on daring roles in 2020, playing the main character in the highly-controversial LGBTQ+ film, ‘Ife’. She also played the role of Nigeria’s first superhero, ‘The Zipman’ in the short film, ‘Ananze and The Zipman’. The ‘Rumour Has It’ star is one of the rising acts, who sure knows her onion and has a place in the acting firmament if challenged with bigger roles. The writer, poet, and actor, tells Ferdinand Ekechukwu more about her fascinating life and family in this conversation

You are best known as an actor and writer, which did you start with first and how?
I started writing first. I wrote something at every small opportunity I got. On Facebook for instance, I shared my thoughts and daily experiences that then transformed into a reality blog back in 2014. Then I turned in a story to the Farafina Writing Workshop taught by Chimamanda Adichie, and I got accepted. That served as a kind of validation for me. I decided to take writing a little more seriously.

It seems you are now more engaged acting than writing?
Yes, true. I am an artist, which means that I express through different forms of art. I act, I write prose and poetry, I do short form spoken word, etc. I’m currently focusing on acting, perfecting my craft and hoping to be the best I can be in it. Focusing is all it is. My other loves will get their time in the sun when I’m ready.

Have you written any book yet? Is there any book/novel project in the making?
I did start something that’s been put on hold. A memoir. As soon as I finish it, l will do well to scream it to the world.

Tell us a bit of your journey into acting and what attracted you?
I always knew I was going to be an actor. What I didn’t know was when and how. My first realization was watching The Sound of Music and seeing Maria being free and fantastic. My second realization was watching Nollywood movies and seeing people like Genevieve Nnaji, Stephanie Okereke, Dakore Egbuson, Oge Okoye etc. I wanted to be like them. I learned their lines and re-enacted them in front of a mirror. With Maria in Sound of Music, it was her free spirit and the way she held a scene with her smile and voice. I thought it was powerful. With the Nollywood actors, it was their mannerisms, their fashions and their stubbornness, their boldness. I knew I wanted to be in their world.

Were you faced with any challenge from friends/family in the course of venturing into acting?
Yes. My father’s idea of work was in an office. Anything outside of that he saw as a waste of time. I think though, that he came around slightly when someone sent him Chimamanda Adichie’s words about my excerpt that she published. I think he felt that if Ms. Adichie knows Uzoamaka and says she’s good, then Uzoamaka may actually be up to something.

Tell us about your background, growing up as a child and what fond memory do you hold?
I am the first of four children. I grew up on the fourth floor of a four storey building in Fegge, Onitsha. My strict father owned the building and so everyone in the neighborhood called my siblings and I ‘umu landlord’. My father was a trader and my mother, a Fine Arts teacher. We weren’t allowed to go downstairs even on errands so we made friends through the bars of our burglar proof balcony. I remember once when my mother helped me with my geography assignment in primary four. She drew the map of Africa for me and when I got to school, I was punished to my utter surprise because my drawing was too perfect. When I told my mother that day, she called my teacher jealous. I laugh every time I remember it.

Would you say you have found fulfillment acting?
If I say I have found fulfillment in it, it feels like an end to a long search and now I get to rest forever. I love acting, and I love every art form that I’m called to express through. And every time I work as an artist, I feel a slice of fulfillment that hopefully carries me to the next expression, or work. So, it’s never full. Sometimes it’s a spoonful, sometimes it’s a slice, if you’re lucky it’s a plate. It’s like that, in small doses.

What do you keep up with when you are not on set?
I read or write when I’m not on set; sometimes both. Other times, I help my friends out with small projects. I set small goals for myself and see how far I can go with it. I watch films, listen to new music, try new restaurants, go to the beach. My kid sister just introduced me to water colour painting on paper. It’s quite interesting. There are tutorials on YouTube.

What set are you on at the moment and which was your last?
I’m currently out of the country but will be on a set doing some voice acting for radio once I’m back. The last set I was on was for a short film by a group of young Nigerians. I’m excited about it.

What excites you most as an artiste and what inspires you?
I am mostly excited about the endless possibilities; the routes a character can take you; the process of achieving a vision. I love reading a script and trying to figure out things before I get to the end of it. I like knowing a story and already picturing the scenes. I am inspired by life, people, and experiences. I am an observer, in real life and in online spaces. I like to watch people be and react and I wonder what it is about their life that’s prompted this particular reaction. Would they behave differently if they suddenly came into money, or if they were born into money? Life is such a movie.

What challenges you as an actress? Is there any role you can’t play?
I am constantly challenged by my previous work. I want to do better, be better. I watch people I admire in the film industry and I know that if I continue doing excellent work consistently, it’ll only be a matter of time. Yes, there are roles I would not play— characters that exist for no reason in stories that don’t move you.

What has the experience been like since venturing into acting and to what extent has it affected your lifestyle?
It’s been a learning field for me. I’ve seen the huge difference getting comfortable in front of the camera makes in one’s delivery and how preparation stands you out. Also, how it’s not about you, it’s about the story, so unless you’re doing a solo performance, you’re working with your co-actors collaboratively for the success of the story. I don’t think acting has affected my lifestyle. I’m still the same girl, maybe with a little more money.

What’s the most expensive gift item you have ever received or let’s say most expensive material possession?
It would be my car. My father came to Lagos from the east, bought it for me and went back to the east the same day. A flex I love. It was the last thing he gave me before his passing.

On what do you spend the most?
I think on food. I cook once in a blue moon and I enjoy eating out. And eating at nice restaurants in Lagos is not cheap… so yes, definitely food.

Who is Uzoamaka? Tell us your likes and dislikes; your hobbies; turn on, turn offs; phobia, your favourite food, favourite colour, and things like that…
My name is Uzoamaka and I am a human being who happens to be an artist. I love life, I believe in the universe’s love for me, and I don’t think twice before saying yes to things that make living much more enjoyable. I love music especially jazz and soul. I dance like no one is watching, I enjoy a good glass of red wine occasionally, and I would rarely turn down a plate of garri and oha soup. I love red and yellow colours. I love it when people stay true to themselves and exist authentically in this world, because of what use is it if everyone behaved and dressed alike owing to the fact we’ve been told that it is how we’re supposed to be in order to be accepted or be cool? That’s boring.

What’s the goal for you five, ten years from now moving on as an actor/writer?
The goal is to be the best I can possibly be. Being in projects that I’m proud of; writing stories that I genuinely want to write. I would like to be more involved in the filmmaking process. So I will try my hands at everything I can, as long as I can breathe. And if in five years, I have made a film or more, written a book or more, got paid well for them, I’d have achieved something. I would be proud of myself.