Chance meeting with the beloved ‘glamour girl,’ Gloria Young

Fans of the notable Nollywood actress, Gloria Anozie-Young, were excited to see their beloved actress penultimate week chatting with the journalist and Publisher, Femi Akintunde Johnson, on his weekly entertainment magazine programme, FAJ Alive, which airs weekly on Lagos Television (LTV).

The actress, mass communicator and former energy correspondent with the Daily Times, who is married to the method actor, Norbert Akpojerarho Young, was looking radiant and beautiful as ever.

Brainy, friendly and caring, Gloria became an instant celebrity after a steamy performance in the chart-busting 1994 movie by Kenneth Nnebue, Glamour Girls.

It took that performance and a few others after Glamour Girls, including Women’s Cot, starring Joke Silva and Onyeka Onwenu, for the spotlight to remain on her.

Although not a face on every movie or poster now, but Gloria is still relevant to moviedom as butter is to bread, and also affirmed this in the chat with FAJ. Excerpts:

Glamour Girls was my very first
Yes, Glamour Girls was my very first. The great Liz Benson and Jennifer Ossai had come to Charly Boy’s (Charles Oputa) office in Gbagada, Lagos to look for me.

I think they have done about three or four auditions and maybe they couldn’t find the person to play that character and someone saw me on television doing one of those comedy skits on the Charly Boy Show and I think he told them that I could play the role.

So, they came looking for me and mentioned that they were looking for someone to play a role in a movie and they think I could do it and for me.I was stunned and screaming in my head. I asked myself from inside if I was the one that a Liz Benson had come to find. I was excited.

Well, she said she was asked to come and invite me to come for an audition, and that was the very first one I did. I showed up and was auditioned in the presence of a few cast members that they had already assembled and that was the first time I met with Zack Orji, Bob Manuel Udokwu, Keppy Ekpeyong and Norbert Young.

Anyway, I read the script and the producer just said I had the role and that was my very first. I mean Glamour Girls.

And my marital status changed
Norbert Young happened to me. Well, we had known each other for about three years before he popped the question. I used to think he was married. I remember one day I complained to Liz Benson that I kept getting this side looks and stolen kisses from Norbert Young.

There was a day Liz and I were at Motherland. He had this performance and just after the performance, someone just came from behind and pecked me from behind and I turned around and saw that it was Norbert Young and I was so embarrassed.

And I just said to Liz, in passing, ‘this married man, why will he come and be kissing me,’ and Liz told me he was not married. And I was like, okay, is that his own way of toasting? And we all laughed.

And he won’t say anything and he did this like three or four times. He won’t even introduce himself. I just knew he was the famous Norbert Young we used to see on television. He will just peck and run away. But one day, he popped the question and the rest, as they say, is history.

I slowed down to focus on family
I think I was a go-getter. I loved challenges. In fact, if I didn’t see the challenge, I will go looking for it. I like to always do different things. I remember that before I had Tonia, my daughter, if I wasn’t baking today, I was sewing or will be designing. I was generally busy. I always had things going on.

And then Tonia came and I needed to calm down and focus on the family. So, everything else took a back seat. I became a calmer person and I realised that God has given me this huge responsibility and I needed to take it seriously.

It was no longer about me, Gloria, who married Norbert, but it was another human being that God had put in my care and so I really needed to focus. That was why I calmed down.

But it has not stopped me from working. I am still working and have a whole lot lined up.

Marriage has been good
I think if I had not married Norbert, I am sure I would have gone bunkers. He is a very calming influence. He has a strong personality. Those days when I was going off about my inability to get pregnant, he would calm me down. I was the one going bunkers. He will sit me down, talk to me and calm me down. He made me realise that when it is God’s time, however, it comes, in whichever way, and we will see it, and today, I give God the glory. My whole life is a testimony, major testimony.

I love to be at home with the family
Anytime I am away from home because of work and the work ends, I always look forward to returning home. I look forward to going home because home is home; home is wonderful. It is my comfort zone.

I could totally relax and I have all the things that give me extra energy at home. So, I am always home if I am not working.
No issues being in the same profession with my husband

We have no issues. Not at all! We are sharing in it and we work together. I mean most times, we find ourselves sharing work notes and helping ourselves with our lines when it is not sticking. We do that a lot.

But in terms of how I cope, I cope well. I mean my husband is the head of the home. There is no competition and I have no plans at all to compete with my husband when it comes to work or anything else.

The only time we focus on our work is when we are helping each other with the lines or understanding a character. That is what we do. We criticise each other’s works and he has been a great trainer and motivator.