Long but interesting



Dressed in a brown cleavage-revealing fitted top and a pair of blue denim jeans, with absolutely no make-up, the 32-year old mother-of-four is preparing for her child’s birthday. She needs to buy all sorts of stuff to make the birthday colourful, so as to retain her name as the best mother in the world (at least to the celebrant). Yet she was in a mood to chat with us. We’re at her Ikeja GRA office. Face-to-face in a little cubicle, Omosexy – as she is fondly called by both her husband and her fans opened up like someone who had been bottled up for a while. She smiled warmly, chose her words carefully and took time to stress her points, even though her eldest child waits impatiently in the reception area – waiting for us to get the interview over with, so that the birthday shopping can begin. But the minute-counter on the recorder only reads two minutes five seconds; which means the interview is just beginning.

We traced the story of her life, probing without borders, digging deeper than a Julius Berger drill, and almost giving her goose pimples.

From her days on Molue buses, preaching away like a career evangelist, to her cross over from movie to music, her alleged snobbish attitude, and that celebrated enmity with fellow movie star Genevieve Nnaji, she spoke with Dimeji Ogedengbe until the recorder batteries were completely exhausted.


To start with, do you still find time to cook your hubby’s meal?

I do all the time. I always cook in bulk if I am travelling. They bring it out and warm from the microwave. Even if I’m in the middle of a shoot, if I have to, I’ll come back, especially if something urgent comes up. It hardly happens. Basically, I cook in large quantities. It’s something I’ve trained myself for. The only problem is NEPA. There are times when there’s no light or the generator is bad. Then they have to turn out stuff. I don’t like de-frozen food.

Before Ije, We had stopped seeing you in movies. We only heard about you in the music industry; is music conflicting with your movie career?

No. Absolutely not. I’m just chilling not to be in too many movies at this period; because there are not too many projects out there right now that I really want to do. There are a few movies that I love and recently I’ve have shot about four of them, that’s straight to video movies. Otherwise I’m also looking more to shoot movies like ‘IJE‘ and also to encourage the producers and directors of such movies. You know, promoting such movies takes a lot of time; you have to travel around and all that. I really have been travelling to promote other movies. I have another project called ‘Mind game‘ and I’ve been promoting that since last year as well, just as i did ‘IJE’ . So, that’s what I’ve mostly been doing with the movie side of my life but otherwise I’ve shot other movies on the local scene.

You have one album to your credit and the second one is coming out; has it been promising so far? {EDITOR’S NOTE: Omotola’s second album Me, Myself and Eyes, has since been released}

Absolutely! Extremely, in fact. I’ve always known that nothing good comes easy so I’m not one of those people who come in and think everything has to go their way. I know most times that you really have to work hard to get things and I know that if nothing else, something has to give you a fight. I know that I have to be strong-willed, confident and hardworking. I know exactly what to expect. I think I’m surprised that things are catching up quickly and faster than I thought it would. I’m really bracing up for a big fight not only in Nollywood but around the world. It’s never been easy for people to cross over from movies to music likewise from music to movies. I envisaged a very tough fight and very hard terrain. You know, a lot of people think it’s just something you do to pass time because you are bored or there is something else you are looking for.

But what can you say is your priority Music or Movie?

None necessarily. My priority is entertainment first and foremost because that’s the profession I’ve chosen to do. It’s like asking a doctor – GP has to be your specialty. I mean they can decide to take another course and do other parts of medicine. My specialty is entertainment. I could be a poet, a dancer, stage act, singer or an actor. It’s all within entertainment.

You and Genny – Is this the first time you are doing a movie together?

No.

Why does ‘Ije’ seem to be more pronounced?

Well, that’s because it’s actually a big movie. Other movies we’ve done like ‘Games Women Play‘ and ‘Sister in love‘ were big too, ‘Blood Sisters’, is one of the biggest African movies in the world till date. So, I mean we’ve done a couple of movies together but I guess ‘Ije‘ is just on another level. It’s big, it’s a film and it’s well promoted.

A lot of people see you two as rivals; with ‘Ije’ it would seem you both have a robust relationship. Are you guys quite close? Did you get along well while on set?

That’s the irony. There is nothing to get along and nothing not to get along. The idea is actually in peoples mind. People read meaning to everything. The point is we are not best friends or close friends and we are not enemies too. We are just colleagues and we are cool. I mean if I see her somewhere, I would be like ‘hello hello’ and we’ll go our separate ways like every other person. I really don’t understand what the fantasy is with me and Genevieve in particular. She’s not the first person I’m acting a sisterly role with and she will definitely not be the last but I know, somebody or people just have feelings of those two brands. I don’t even think we look alike so it’s an irony why people keep tagging us as sisters. It’s weird but it’s what it is.

You were alleged to have snobbed a male fan who offered you a handshake on the red carpet of Ije premiere in Lagos. Are you truly a snob?

Wow, I’m hearing this for the first time. I don’t remember anything of that nature happening. Are you sure I saw this person? There was no way anyone could have even come up to me because I had a bodyguard with me. Are you sure he was trying to shake me or he was giving me something? That’s not possible. To everybody who said ‘hello’ to me that day, I said ‘hello’ back. I was even over friendly. We even had a situation where i was playing with the area boys. So if I could play with area boys outside my car why would someone try to shake me on the red carpet and I won’t respond to the gesture? That’s strange.

Has marriage been fun?

It’s been interesting, very interesting. In marriage, there are times when you want to be free; there are times when you feel it’s the best. There are times when you fight. Even with your parents it’s the same. There are times when you want to be with them, there are times when you just want to get out. My marriage has been good. We are normal people. When I don’t want to see him i do not see him. We give each other space. We don’t choke each other. We fight, we play, and we talk to each other. When we wanted to be married we decided to be natural. We don’t lie to each other. If I goof I tell him.

But you were just 18 when you married, how much did you know then?

At 18, I was wiser than a lot of 20 – something year olds. What I’m living on now are legacies I set for myself when I was younger. I was in tune with God.

Let’s rewind a little. Back in the days you used to preach the gospel on Molue buses in Lagos. Do you still evangelize?

I do. I evangelize everyday but maybe not in Molues anymore (laughs). It’s a way of life for me. It’s about what I believe. It’s just a way of life for me. I talk to people about God; I talk to them about Christ and about values and what I believe in. So that’s the way I do my own evangelism to the people I come in contact with everyday. I tell them things that could help their lives. But as the case is right now, I don’t do Molues anymore (chuckles).

Looking back now, do you think you should have lived your life differently?

I don’t think I had a choice in my life. My life has played out the way god wanted it. There are so many things I regret. That’s the truth. Anything that happens in my life was meant to be. It’s either made me wiser or something. Nothing in my life has been accidental. I am living my destiny, being who God wants me to be. But personally if it was left to me, I would have started music first. Because I didn’t start with music, people are skeptical about accepting me as an artiste. I am even shocked that fans accepted my songs so soon. I was shocked at the acceptance of ‘Naija lowa’. Even in the north, they know the song. I’m happy everyone is talking about the music. It’s because it’s worth talking about. It makes me want to work harder. A lot of acts that even started with music didn’t hit it with their first album. I am grateful for all I have achieved and I’m working harder. It’s what I love. Everyone that knew me first knew me with music….I just watched one of Beyonce‘s documentaries when she was bringing out her birthday album and saw how she was rehearsing for six hours every day…

Most men want to be in your husband’s shoes. Some say they don’t envy him. Do you think he’s lucky or unlucky to be your husband?

You answer that for yourself. I’ll leave people to answer that. But if we’ve been married since 1996 and we are getting stronger, I don’t think he has problems with that. It takes a real man to be like him. Not many men will survive in his shoes. I’ve met guys who are well informed and have traveled far and wide, but can’t tolerate what he does. He’s a white man in a black man’s skin. He’s such a darling… people who’ve met him also say the same thing…there’s no dull moment with him. He’s an extremely beautiful soul…even guys fall in love with him, how much more girls?

Four labours behind you and you are still stunning. Do we give the credit to cosmetics?

Which cosmetic do you see on me right now? (laughs out loud). The truth of that matter is that I hate make up. People may not know this, but truly, I don’t enjoy dressing up. Personally it’s not like my favourite thing to do. I don’t like it. I’m a very regular person. I just like to wake up in the morning, throw on something and go. So if you see the real Omotola, I’m like this. Without make up, regular clothes and I’m up and doing with my everyday activities. It’s the Omosexy part of me that likes to do all the freaky make up thing and dressing. So if you have to give credit to anything, it has to be to nature and to God (laughs).

It’s believed in some circles, especially the media, that you’ve had affairs…?

For a twelve year career, talks like that must have come up maybe twice or thrice. Why did they come up at all, it’s because of my age, if I was like Joke Silva’s age, maybe it won’t come up. That I’ve not even been linked with fellow actors, it shows you that when I’m working, I’m professional. In most cases I actually know these people they’ve accused me of dating. In the case of Ayo Fayose it was from an event we had in London. These things are sensational…some people just sit down and cook up stuff…they said another romp happened in London, I don’t know…but the truth is that I thank my God that they always find out that these things are false and baseless…they realize there is nothing. I have no skeletons in my cupboard…I task the writers to investigate and get to the bottom of it. At times some people are even trying to spoil your name. I guess now, with time, I’ve been able to earn the trust of journalists, my fans and my family. I’ve passed that murky stage. And it’s good to watch your steps. My husband understands. I am who I am. I don’t hide. I am a very transparent person. I’m not a very political person. Unfortunately we’re in a world where deceit is the order of the day. But I refuse to be that kind of person. He knows there’s pressure on me. He knows about them and it’s no problem for him. He knows when they call me. Most of them are his friends and they’re my friends. He knows and he trusts me. The most important thing is to know who you are.

You work out regularly?

I don’t work out regularly unfortunately, I have seasons. There are times I just feel like ‘oh sh**t’, I really do need to walk out and I get to the gym and I’ll be like duh! And after two weeks I’m bored. I walk out because I’m on a goal. I’m very restless; I can’t sit down in place for a long time. So I’m always moving around, from one project to the other. Otherwise once in a blue moon I just dash into my gym and do something real quick and rush out.

http://www.nigeriafilms.com/news/10662/2/genevieve-is-not-my-best-or-close-friend-and-we-ar.html


Oya genny and omotola's haters/lovers, jenny don give una work, time for debate

Eish,,,,,, was it really necessary for her to say that,,,,,,,, Anyways,,,,,,,,,,

Omosexy muahhh

Nakele:

Eish,,,,,, was it really necessary for her to say that,,,,,,,, Anyways,,,,,,,,,,

Yoou obviously did not read the whole interview, cos if you did, you wouldn't have posted the above.

jennykadry:

Yoou obviously did not read the whole interview, cos if you did, you wouldn't have posted the above.

I did my dear, and I perfectly understood it,,,,,,, Infact I read it on Nigeriafilms as well,,,,,so

This woman needs to shut it. She's become such a bore esp with the interviews. Music your first love my dog's asss!