Mercy Aigbe-Gentry keeps notching her fame higher. The amiable actress won the Yoruba Movie Personality of The Year at the City People Awards last week. Married to a hotelier and businessman Lanre Gentry, the mother of two has successfully managed both her career and the home front. In this chat with AJIBADE ALABI, the Osas and Komfo star speaks about her new work Victims, beauty secrets and other issues.
Congratulations on your new award. How did you feel winning it? I was very happy and excited winning the Yoruba Movie personality of the Year 2015 (smiles). That’s another feather to my cap, to God be the glory. And I just want to thank all my fans who voted for me; I was simply happy. There’s this thing about awards; it actually makes you sit back and think there is something one is doing right somewhere; I mean some people are noticing what I am doing, so it makes you want to put more effort.
Considering other nominees with you, did you feel you were going to win? Well, just being nominated alone was a great honour, it’s not easy. It was like fifty; if I won, fine; if I didn’t, just being nominated was just enough for me, and thank God I eventually won; everybody wants to win.
What exactly is your movie ‘ Victims’ about?
‘Victims’ is about a young lady who has to go through a lot of things in life; things she didn’t call for. A lot of people experience things that it’s not like they brought it upon themselves. I would say it’s probably fate, providence or destiny. So she had to go through a lot of things and how she dealt with the issues. It’s a very emotional, intriguing movie; full of suspense. It’s a movie I belief once it eventually comes out and people get to see it, they are just going to love it. It’s a movie that teaches lots of morals, it talks to parents and also talks about marriage, because I believe that today, people don’t really respect the institution marriage, and people who are not patient enough to want bear so many things that come with being in union with another person. They forget that we are different individuals from different backgrounds with different upbringing, so they are not ready to compromise; so many things, they are just not ready. That’s why most marriages don’t work out. It also talks about domestic
violence, the home; it’s simply a bumper package and I’m sure people are just going to love it.
Are you saying it is a life experience? No, it’s actually based on different people’s experiences; stories I heard from different people, so I decided to put all together in one package. And there’s this particular thing we talked about in the movie; that’s the baby factory issue; when you have fake doctors go on the streets to pick up teenagers, giving them the hope that they are going to get rehabilitated whereas they are going to use them for their own selfish needs; get them impregnated, sell the babies. So, those are part of the things you’re going to see in the movie.
What informed bringing Saheed and Fathia Balogun together on that set? Both are fantastic actor and actress, they have been in the industry for a long time, they are both my senior colleagues; people I respect so much; each of them has carved a niche for themselves in the industry. So, when I was casting, I saw that these two individuals can actually play the roles I want them to play perfectly well in the movie, that was why I casted them. They are professionals and they actually gave me their best. If you were on that set, you would have gotten the better picture. Also the Ghanaian, Juliet Ibrahim, was excited playing that role. Learning a new language was thrilling for her. You know there’s something about it when you are doing something different from the usual; it’s always very exciting and adventurous. So she was very happy playing the role, and it was very good having her on set; she gave in her best and I was very happy working with her.
You also got Lancelot Imaseun as your director? Oh my God (her face glowed), Lancelot! Okay I don’t want to sound tribalistic anyway, but he’s my big uncle because he is also from Benin which is my tribe. Besides that, we all know that he is someone to reckon with when it comes to directing in
Nollywood. He has paid his dues, he’s a fantastic director. Before the Victims, I was on set in Benin for a movie titled Two Sides of a Coin and it was a different experience for me because he is an artistic director who knows how to give you what you really want on set; brings out the best in you eventually. So after that set, I was like oh my next job, I’ll love this man to direct it; so when the script came I sent it to him, he read it and he said “oh this is a fantastic script, I want to do it.” And he was also excited because it was his first Yoruba job. ‘Victims’ is sixty percent Yoruba, forty percent English movie. And he was really excited because he was going to be working with different people. So it was very exciting to work with him.
Your fashion sense, how did you create it? I’ve always loved looking good. I’ve always loved gett ing complements from people about my looks. I’m also a person who loves pictures; I love to dress up and take pictures
of myself.
When you are stepping out, how long does it take to makeup? It doesn’t really take look. But obviously, event takes much time than my daily makeup.
Like how many hours does it take? Approximately two and a half hours, because makeup artists take so much time on your face, I really don’t know why! I think the fastest makeup artist that has worked on my face spent nothing less than an hour, thirty minutes; some actually take up to three hours and I’ll be like ‘I’m tired!’ That was why I said two-and-a-half hours. Dress for about an hour; make sure everything is fi xed in the right places; get the other ones too that are very important. But for my everyday look, I try as much as possible to pick up whatever I want to wear the night before. At times, my mood determines my dress.
The last time, you said you are also launching your own hair line? Yes, now we have Magdiva Hair, which is going to be launched very soon. We have different types of hair. I have my own cosmetic line; it’s just about beauty. We guys in Nigeria have complained about some girls looking like impersonators too often; when you meet them, they will look like white, but when you get to know them properly, you discover they are actually black.
You are into fashion, what do you have to say about this deceitful appearance? It depends on the individual, and I’ve always respected people’s opinion and how they choose to live their life. If you feel you are dark and you want to make yourself lighter; if that will earn you confidence and comfort, I’d say go for it, but do not damage your skin in the process. I keep telling my clients that my products are not chemical based, they are made of herbs, so you don’t need to exercise fear over my products. In the process of looking for comfort and confidence however, please do not get your life affected, because a lot of people have lost their lives because of this. And as for men who fall victim of the impersonators, I think the ladies are actually giving you what you want, so please appreciate people with dark, naturally looking girls. Therefore, guys are to blame for their actions. So on this note; we are going to go into men’s fashion in the nearest future.
Are you a subscriber to waist trainer? Yes I am, because I believe it’s not damaging anything in my body; it only enhances my look. What won’t yoMaybe clothes that show all the parts of my body; I won’t like to wear that.
How come you don’t have tattoos? A lot of your colleagues do. Maybe it’s because I dread pains. But seriously, I don’t like it on me, because I’m like an insatiable person when it comes to having things like that on my body; today I may like a bird, and the following day I’ll get tired of that and want to change it. And aside that, in my job, you’ll have to play different roles; so it automatically restricts the number of roles you can play in a movie, so I feel as a professional actress, you shouldn’t, maybe to an extent, have a permanent thing on your body.
What is your fashion weakness? The fact is, I actually like everything when it comes to fashion; I think I’m greedy when it comes to fashion; clothes, bags, shoes, everything.
Which one of those items do you have more? Maybe shoes, but I’ve lost count; and I hardly sleep in my room now. This morning, a thought just crossed my mind that maybe I should do something for my die-hard followers, my fans, if they don’t mind, the clothes I’ve worn not more than once, very soon I’m going to be giving them out to them.
What is your most expensive fashion item? That will be a wrist watch, which my husband gave me in 2010, I think.
What is that item that will really drive you crazy? That will be a body con-dress, because my husband says it shows the beautiful part in my body.
What is that fashion item you can never leave home without? That will be my purse, asides my bag. Is your contact lens medicated? Yes it is; and I really love sunshades.
Are you long-sightedor short-sighted? I’m short-sighted.
Do you think you can do a movie that surpasses Osas? Of course, I’m sure Victims surpassed Osas, is that not so? Osas is very close to my heart, because it’s actually the fi rst time I was playing a comic role in a movie, and actually the fi rst time I’d got to speak my indigenous language which is Benin. But I’m very sure Victims surpassed Osas. When you did Osas, everyone knew you were really hungry for fame, which might have made you to be very active in the movie.
Now that you’ve become a stakeholder in the movie industry, can you play such role again in movies? The only role I can never play is to act nude. But asides that I will do anything.
Do you still have a dream role? Yes, I’ve never played an imbecile role, and I look forward to playing it in any movie. A lot of your colleagues have ventured into music and politics, would you? For music, not at all, I restrict myself to my bathroom, singing every morning because I think I don’t have the voice. Then for politics, I think there’s a chance, because I have a serious passion for the less privileged; maybe later, not now, I will do politics.
With several speculations on social media and for the record, is Mercy Pregnant? No, I wish I was.
0 comments:
Post a Comment