BN Saturday Celebrity Interview: "I Love My Son to Bits" -Nollywood Actress Ufuoma Ejenobor

The Interview reads thus...

Hi Ufuoma, it’s really great to see you. Are you back to work already?

I shot one movie already this year and I’ve got two scripts in the works so yes, I’m fully back to work. I’m back in shape, my baby’s got all the love around him so I’ve got to go back to work.

How is he doing now?

He is fantastic. Every day he just gets cuter and cuter and it melts my heart.
See more after the cut...


Building her Career
Aww, that’s so sweet. We’d talk more about him soon but let’s talk about your career now. Your profile reads that you did some modeling and participated in beauty pageants before acting.

I started modeling before I got into University and I continued all the while I was in the University. I started out with photography modeling, then I delved into runway modeling, ushering, and then pageantry came along. I did Miss Commonwealth in 2002 and the same year I did Queen Afrique and Queen of All Nations where I was first runner up. Then I did Miss Nigeria in 2004 where I was again first runner up. And then I did Miss Earth Nigeria which I won and I went to represent the country at Miss Earth International in the Philippines.

With such an impressive growth in the pageants, why didn’t you continue in professional modeling?


Modeling wasn’t a career path for me. I never saw myself modeling as a career. Also, there is so much more coordination needed in the modeling sector. It needs to be put together for anyone to appreciate it as a life career.

Since leaving modeling for acting, how have you come to appreciate it and the movie industry in general?


I’ve come to understand that the movie industry is made up of a group of people who have determined in their hearts that film making in Nigeria would not die; not because they have all the support that they should get but because deep down in their hearts they have a love for the arts. I say kudos to every film maker in this country.

You went ahead for a Masters Degree even after you started your acting career. How were you able to combine your studies with your work schedules and why didn’t you study something related to your profession?


I had finished my first degree and I knew that if I hadn’t done my Masters program the time I did it, I probably wouldn’t have. I needed to just kill time and do it then. At the time I did my Masters program, I was working with people that were very understanding and somehow I was able to balance going to school with working. It wasn’t until 2011 that I got my first Certificate in Acting from the New York Film Academy and another one in Film Making from the Hollywood Film Institute. I thought it wasn’t any good doing something without having training in it. It doesn’t matter how good you think you are, there are new tricks you can learn.

Have you made any movies since then?


No, but I’m shooting a TV Magazine program which I call ‘Mummy Daycare’. It’s a health advocacy program reaching out to mothers, mothers-to-be and pregnant women on certain things about their health at that stage of their lives. When I had my son, there were so many things that were new to me and whenever I panicked, my Mum would have a good laugh. There were a couple of times we went to the hospital and spent money that we shouldn’t spend because we thought some things were problems. I want to put information out there for mothers and mothers-to-be, so that people can learn one or two things; the things that are almost usual that every new Mom panics about.