Kate Henshaw:My Character in ‘Blood Sisters’ Unique

Ferdinand Ekechukwu

Weeks after its release, EbonyLife’s Netflix thriller, ‘Blood Sisters’ is still making waves within the entertainment circles and beyond. The project features several movie stars including Kate Henshaw (who plays Uduak Ademola) in the limited series. In a recent chat with this reporter, among others, Kate who was in the company of the executive director, Mo Abudu, describes her character as “a different kettle of fish from any character” that she had played before.

She also gives credit to Mo Abudu for her role: “I mean I’m not hyping her – Big Sis Mo. I’m a very upfront person. I give credit to whom credit is due if you’ve sort of supported me in my career, any point, I’m not ashamed. It doesn’t take away from what I bring to the table. It just helps me recognise and give kudos to whom it is due. So, she had approached me and said ‘Kate I need you to play this character but you have to find her she’s dark, nasty, and she’s frightful.

“And I’m like ‘this’ not me’. But you know I’m an actor, I had to find it. And then she said she’s older (that’s the character). They say you don’t look the age. We have to age you. I’m like ‘but I’m over 50 na’ you know. She first sent me a grey wig (laughing). And then she said we need a makeup person, a special effect. And I said the one I know she’s abroad o! I now called her and she recommended someone here.”

Still on the character, she said, “Then she (Mo) said sent me her number. I sent her the number. She organised everything, gave me a room at the hotel for us to do the experiment. So, when I walked in during the casting, half of my colleagues didn’t recognize me. I just came and sat quietly in a corner with the grey wig and everything. And then by the time I walked back into the room, she said ‘ah it’s too old o, we need to tone down this age’ you know (laughing).

“So we had that process and then somehow I just knew she was a different kettle of fish from any character that I had played before. And she had to be like mean. She’s mean! She doesn’t care about anyone except her son (Kola). She doesn’t care basically even though she had other children. So it speaks a lot about the character and I was so happy that I got that opportunity”.

Blood Sisters tells the story of two friends Sarah and Kemi. Sarah is engaged to her dream man, Kola (played by Deyemi Okanlawon). However, their seemingly idyllic union has a dark side and despite Kemi’s vocal misgivings, Sarah is determined to press on with the wedding. What follows is a heart-stopping series of catastrophic events marked by murder, love, betrayal and the test of friendship.