Actress talks taking a break from Nollywood, making a comeback with "Alter Ego"

chibumga izuzu

June 21, 2017 3:58 PM

Omotola Jalade Ekeinde explains why she took a break from Nollywood and why she chose to make a comeback with Moses Inwang's "Alter Ego."

Alter Ego is Moses Inwang's latest movie

Before "Alter Ego,"

Making her comeback with the anticipated Moses Inwang movie, the actress explained her reasons for taking a break and accepting a role in "Alter Ego."

Speaking during a press conference on June 21, 2017, at IMAX Cinemas, Lekki, the actress revealed that she had featured in about four movies [Tarila Thompson's "Upbreak." Teco Benson's "Blood in the Lagoon] to hold the fort while she was gone.

"By shear luck, they didn't come out. So, I have like four movies that are still not out," she said.

Jalade-Ekeinde, who is popular for successful movies like "Private Storm," "Ije," "Mortal Inheritance" and "Blood Sisters," said she had to take a break from Nollywood as she was becoming creatively stifled.

"I knew I had to get away because I was becoming creatively stifled. It gets to a point and you feel like there's nothing challenging you and then you start to feel like your standard is dropping."

So, I went through that period and knew that I had to stay away and wait for the industry to catch up with some of our ideas.

The industry wasn't moving fast enough and I knew that the only way was to make that sacrifice. So, I thought that the movies I had featured in would help hold the forth while I concentrated on other things like building my business."

Coming back to the acting scene wasn't an easy one for the actress who was in search of a challenging script,

She was in search of something like or better than the 1996 movie , "Mortal Inheritance."

I knew I had to reset. I was looking for something that would excite me, the same way "Mortal Inheritance" did, and something that would bring that same value in entertainment and message."

The scripts came along, but none of them were what she wanted, unless she wanted to feature in a movie for just the money.

She explained that she had gone past the point of choosing a movie for its financial benefits.

"So, I had to do it strictly for excitement," the actress said. "And the truth of the matter is 'Alter Ego' did it for me" and I knew that was the project I needed to take," she added.

"Alter Ego" opens in cinemas on July 21, 2017.

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