ANNE NJEMANZE: Why I Had to Leave Nollywood and Find 9-5 Job

You may not know her by her actual name, but you definitely know or have at least heard about the famous character she played all the way back in 1996: Domitilla. Nollywood actress Anne Njemanze was the talk of the town when the blockbuster movie, Domitilla, came out and became an instant hit. The movie was a career launcher and help pad for so many names in the movie industry such as Kate Henshaw, Ada Ameh, Sandra Achums, Charles Okafor, and more. It was a massive movie, and Anne Njemanze was the lead. That was in 1996.

These days, Anne Njemanze is still working and you can catch her on the long-running TV show, Tinsel. But, her path in Nollywood has not been smooth at all. There was a time when Anne Njemanze was not getting calls at all from Nollywood, so much so that she had to essentially leave the industry and go and find another skill for herself. Anne made this revelation during a new Channels TV interview where she talked about why she had to leave Nollywood and get a 9-5 job. Here is what Anne Njamenze said.

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The revelation happened when during her interview, Anne Njamenze was asked "You're a motivational speaker, you're a cultural arts officer, writer, producer, actress, voice over artiste. How do you do all that?" She responded:

ANNE NJEMANZE: It's God. It's God that gives me the ability to try. There was a time there was nothing really, as far as Nollywood is concerned. There was a time I was off the grid.

"Did you offend anybody?"

ANNE NJEMANZE: No no no. Nollywood is harsh this way, and I think most of the creative industry. They don't see you, they don't remember you. So I went through that phase and it was tough. It wasn't easy. So I got a job. Somewhere along there, I got a job, and I said "hey, acting won't pay the bills all the time so get an everyday job, get a skill, learn a skill, hone your skills, and fly with it." And it was when that started, somehow, I have a man named Ehi, he said "no, sit down, write this radio drama scripts for me, you do the voicing", and money was coming in.

But you see, as far as Nollywood was concerned, nobody was seeing me for a long time. You have to be able to sustain yourself financially first, and then sustain yourself mentally so that you don't lose it. It's not easy. It's not easy to just be amongst so many people and they say [about you] "who's that?". But now, that's different again, and that's why I say it just has to be God. For you to leave all that, and then still come again and be on the lips of people, it's God.

Wow! The entertainment industry really is not easy sha. You always have to be in people's faces otherwise, truly as Anne said, people will forget you. What do you think about what Anne Njemanze said? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment either below or on my Jide Okonjo Facebook post.

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