Grace Amah: Nollywood needs to be reinvented

Ebonyi State-born actress, Grace Amah, who began her acting career as a child actress, in this chat with MUTIAT ALLI, opens up on her journey into the world of make believe as well as other details many of her fans have been yearning to know about her. Excerpts:

As a young lady going into the world of make believe, how did your parents take to your choice of career?My parents were not favourably disposed to my going into the acting world. They preferred I was a medical doctor or lawyer and I made attempts to read law but the urge for the acting profession did not allow me concentrate. However, my parents have come to embrace and support my career choice and they are happy with the outcome. It is only natural that parents would react negatively to things they do not understand but when they see the positive dividends of such work, they will appreciate and give their support. So did you get your parents blessings to act? Not initial but later, they gave me their blessing and support and have since been a great source of strength in the profession because I owe all I do to their prayers and counsel.

Sojourn into acting, how did it all start for you?

That was over a decade ago after I wrote JAMB. While awaiting result, I decided to go after my passion, acting. I went to Winnis guest house somewhere in Surulere and met two wonderful personalities, Aunty Ayo Adesanya whom I have always admired on screen and Frank Ubaka, a movie producer and screen writer. Seeing Ayo that day was like winning a jackpot. I approached them and shyly told them what I wanted and as God would have it, they listened to me. Fortunately, Frank Ubaka called me a week later to tell me about a role for a 13-year-old in the movie, Chains, produced by Louis Isikaku. The movie was directed by Lancelot Oduwa Imaseun. I was over 13 years then but could ft in perfectly for the character, so I went for the casting and got the role. Thus began my journey into acting.