Ngozi Nwosu: The substantial actress reigns uproariously

It was the same manner that fans, colleagues and well-wishers rallied round her when she took ill a few years back that they took to various social media platform to felicitate with their beloved stage and screen actress, Ngozi Nwosu, when she clocked one recently.

Overwhelmed by the show of love, the Fuji House of Commotion star, who has continued to display a high wire act that has earned her an overwhelming acceptance and an irreplaceable place in the artistic scheme of things, took to her own handle to thank her fans and well wishers for the outpouring of love.

“I am grateful to you all for your prayers and good wishes. I can only promise that I will not let you all down and I can only ask God to bless you all,” she posted.

An actress and entertainer who has continued to reign uproariously and her impact unshaken and unbeatable, there are a number of acting personalities in Nollywood that are categorised as ‘timeless’ or ‘evergreen’ and who are also are reputed to be crucial elements in the making of Nollywood, acting wise. The stage and screen actress of Igbo extraction, Ngozi, is in that class.

If the role is for an actress that will deliver with unerring skill, then the role is for the amiable, simple-minded and warm-hearted daughter of small-scale entrepreneurs who have all passed on.

Interestingly, acting was not Ngozi’s first love. The actress, who has somewhat become a subject of affection for millions and an idol to many young people and women, had all along nursed the ambition of becoming a broadcaster, something of a newscaster.

But she couldn’t put her conviction on the line because her parents couldn’t afford the cost of her post-secondary school education. So much later in life, the actress of vast credit opted under the compulsion of destiny for a career in modeling and acting.

As an actress, Ngozi started very early. In her formative years, quite a number of people considered her a comic actor. Many thought she would be good at not just comedy, but theatrics. They would laugh at whatever small act she exhibited and would talk her into taking to acting.

It was on the strength of that and perhaps the conviction that she possessed an innate ability to give life to a screen or stage roles that Ngozi plunged headlong into acting, and she has remained in it ever since and exhibited a commitment that is total.

A native of Arochukwu in Abia State, who cut her acting teeth as a member of the Royal Theatre Club, the acting diva’s career got a boost when she got a referral while in Lagos to join the Yoruba acting circles.

She did, through Chief Bayo Salami, who is popular in Yoruba circles as Oga Bello and Sunday Omobolanle, who is popular as Papi Luwe and grabbed a number of movie roles there, because she could speak Yoruba language fluently.

In fact, she proved in no time that she has got an ace and could be relied upon by the folks who call the shots in the Yoruba movie circle.

A recipient of a number of industry awards, including the City People Award for Best Actress in Igbo and the THEMA Best Supporting Actress award for her arresting outing in the Yoruba movie, Ayo Mi, Ngozi hit the right nerves when she debuted on the phenomenal home movie productions, Living In Bondage and was later to hit national limelight first as Madam V-boot, a character in the long rested soap on television, Ripples and as Peaceful Peace, a character in the situation comedy Fuji House of Commotion.

The ability to transit from a comic actor to a role that requires some degree of seriousness is what has kept the amiable actress in the good books of most movie producers.

Though she is sometimes so connected to most of the screen and stage roles she has played, particularly when it comes to playing a quarrelsome character, Ngozi submits that none of these roles have come close to her life outside the screen.

“I was a quiet type when I was growing, but the problem is, don’t just look for my trouble. Don’t take me for granted.

“So, growing up was fun. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon, but we managed to pull through and today we are here to His glory,” she recalled.

Acting has made Ngozi popular. She admitted it has and adds that it has done so tremendously in ways she cannot really measure.

She admitted too that it has equally provided the vista for so many life opportunities and made her ‘very comfortable.’

Ngozi said: “Acting has opened doors for me that I would ordinarily not have been able to easily open. It has also made me very comfortable. I mean, gone are the early days when all we got was thank you after sweating our lives out.

“But life is a whole lot better now and it will continue to get better.”

Her performance in Living in Bondage ranks as her most memorable experience on the turf. Her other memorable moment is being a part of Tunde Kelani’s Thunderbolt.

“I consider those two my most memorable. I can never forget the set of Living in Bondage. We went through hell to realise that video. I will say that was when there was unity of purpose in the making of a movie.

“We stuck our neck into that experiment and it came out really great,” she recounted.

In her movie pouch are some notable flicks, like the two part movie, Circle of Doom, Frame Up, Ikuku, Evil Passion, Ayo Mio, Ida Oluwa, Igbe Yawo Alaririn and Jokotade.

On stage and television, Ngozi’s credit has remained innumerable. She played lead roles in Jaguar Nana Daughter (soap), Mind Bending (soap), ‘Ripples’ (soap), ‘Trials of Brother Jero’ (stage), Mekunu Melody (stage) and Gods Are Not To Blame, among plenty others.

Jovial and easy going, Ngozi once quit the Fuji House of Commotion series on professional grounds, and she has no regrets quitting at the time she did.

“I quit because I wanted the producers to care more about artistes’ welfare and fees and when they didn’t bulge, I moved on. After all, I have been around and quitting won’t make me less relevant,” she explained.

Giving another opportunity at life, Ngozi, whose parents had no objection to her choice of a career, would want to return a showbiz personality.

“There is never a dull moment in showbiz, and I never regretted being in it. The only thing is that if I would have to come back, I would like to come back a man, because of what women go through in the hands of men.

“That is why sometimes when I see women that are mean to men, I give them kudos, because some of these men are monsters.

“Honestly, if I have to come back again, I would like to come back a man, so I can correct some of their ills against women.

“They do wrong things and they say it is their world,” she said.

For those who desire to join the turf and make a success out of it, Ngozi, who confessed that she misses the fun of sparring on stage as much as she misses her mum, whom she credits for singularly brining her up, counselled them to hold on to their dreams.

She said: “They should continue to pursue their dreams. Sometimes it will be rainy, sometimes it be sunny. But I would advice that they persevere, because it is not rosy all the time.”

For Ngozi, there would be no retirement; she would be around as long as life would permit.

But one aspect of life she would give a thought to before dashing in headlong again is marriage. She swore never to be pressurised into getting married again, as her last shot at it, she confessed, didn’t pay off.

Though she holds that God rewards ultimately, Nigerians she said have shown her so much love and she appreciated their modest contribution in the socio-cultural development of the country.

“I must say that Nigerians are very appreciative of what we do. Not only here, even abroad. There are times when people see me outside and they keep asking me questions and all that.

“There are some people who still call me Madam V-Boot, which was my screen name on Ripples, which came long before Checkmate.

So, no be today at all. But I just thank God” she stated.