Oge Okoye- There Are Some Roles I Can’t Do

Oge Okoye is one of the darlings of the Nigerian movie industry having appeared in dozens of movies. In this interview with Thisday Live she talks about her movie roles and life when the camera isn’t rolling.

HOW I GOT INTO ACTING …

I got into acting in 2001. I had always wanted to act so I went for an audition and got a role. According to my mother, when I was young, I was always saying I wanted to be a super star someday; that I used to walk up and down the house doing fashion parade as a child.

She thought I was going to be a model, not an actress. I love everything about drama, in church, I was involved in drama. I was at the Enugu State University of Technology at first reading Accountancy. I did that for a whole year and I was like, ‘God in heaven, you know I shouldn’t be doing this.’ My father wanted me to be a medical doctor and I knew I wasn’t going to do it. So I persuaded him and I left for Nnamdi Azikiwe University where I studied Theater Arts. I started going for auditions here and there.

I was so lucky when I got a minor role in “Caesar to Caesar”, a long time ago. After that, I got a role in Spanner, my first and only comedy movie that starred Nkem Owoh and Chinedu Ikedieze.

 

I was so scared at first to act with Nkem Owoh, but I did it. After that, I was in Sister Mary. I have been on and on since then. I’m one person that likes to take my time when I’m doing any thing. If I’m going to produce a movie, it would not be a half- baked movie or just do it like fast because I want to produce a movie. I want to do something that in the next 10 -20 years, you’d still refer to it and say it was a good movie. I really like taking my time. Expect something big from me very soon. I know that before the end of this year, something wonderful would happen. I already have three movies lined up and I’m making plans on writing a book soon.

COPING WITH MY HUSBAND……

Yes, my husband is far away, but honestly, it’s not a problem for us. We understand ourselves; we love each other; we know when to draw the line. We are like brother and sister. It’s all about the relationship; it’s all about communication. He calls me almost 10 times in a day. Every night, I must talk to him before I sleep; it’s a must. It’s not much of a problem. I’m always there, and if I’m not there, he is here. Next week, he would be around so it’s not much of a problem.

ME, MY HUSBAND AND LOVE …

It was really not love at first sight with my husband. I personally don’t believe in love at first sight. I believe in working it out and knowing ourselves to know if we are compatible. So, that is exactly what happened between me and my husband. We were friends at first and it was going on like that then the marriage came. I got married in 2005.

I met him early 2004. Marriage has made me more mature in life. I am so matured that sometimes when I am having a discussion with my very close cousin who is like my sister, she would tell me that I’m talking like an old woman. I have two lovely kids. My boy is 5 years old, and my second a girl, is a year and 4 months. It’s really hard, but it takes a whole lot of hard work and a lot of sincerity for marriage to survive.

There are some questions people will ask you about your relationship and you wouldn’t even know what to say and you wouldn’t want to lie. You are just like caught in the middle. One thing I just don’t do is to allow any part of me to suffer – my job, my career, my family. I try to fix a balance. And on marriage breakup tales, it is totally false, I really don’t know why people would be breaking up our marriage and bringing it back for us on their own. I really can’t get it.

 

NO TO NUDE ROLES…

Honestly I can’t take up a role that will involve nudity because of our society. The way we see it, I will just be seen as the worst person on earth. I wouldn’t do that because our culture doesn’t allow it. But I could do other sensual roles but for nude, I wouldn’t. Funny enough, my husband is not complaining about my romantic roles.

I really don’t know if he feels bad, but I know that being a human being like I am, he might be feeling bad inside but he is not showing it. He encourages me a lot; he is always there for me. It’s not much of a problem though he doesn’t watch my movies, unless maybe you see him hiding somewhere watching it.

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