Nigerian actress Linda Osifo broke into the Nollywood industry when she she had her debut in the 2015 EbonyLife Production, Desperate Housewives Africa. Since then, her fame only got better and Linda has starred in such blockbuster movies as Merry Men 2, Unroyal, Devil in Agbada, and more. Now in a new emotional interview with BBC Pidgin, Linda is talking about her early days in the industry as well as giving out advice to younger women and men trying to enter the industry. This is what Linda said.
Speaking to BBC Pidgin (in an interview that was entirely in pidgin and has been translated below to regular English for easier reading), Linda said:
The age that I realized that acting is what I want to do is when I was the age of 16 years old. At that age I was involved in the school drama. Any time there was a play in the church, I was there. When it was time for me to graduate from university and choose what I want to do, I went to ask my mother, “be truthful, what do you see me doing in life?”. She told me that she sees me out there being a star. At that time I was 22, I left Canada and came back to Nigeria.
When I first started my acting career in around 2013, many directors and producers did not know who I was, they did not recognize my face. The only thing was that I used to talk with oyibo English and that was not what they wanted to hear during auditions. So there were many times when I would go to an audition and I wouldn’t get called back, or I would go to an audition and I wouldn’t even know who to ask for information. So yes, many times they rejected me. Many many times.
The first break I got was with Mo Abudu. And the project that we did, if I talk this one I will cry, the project was Desperate Housewives Africa and that was in 2015. That time when I entered that projected, 2015, I received a nomination for Best Actress in a Television Series during the Exquisite Ladies of the Year award. That year I said that this acting thing, I die here. Because for someone to see me and recognize me as an actress during that period, it gave me hope that mama, papa, I did not waste my time. And if I look at 2015 and compare it to now, it’s just to say thank God and go. That is all. God, I thank you.
My advice to younger girls is number one, make sure you know yourself. When you know yourself you won’t do what another person pressures you to do. Number two, make sure that the choice that you make is your own choice; and number three, this one can relate to men and women, when you have passion for something make sure you try it because you have nothing to lose. Last last the thing you will lose is time and money, and time, it does not get lost because it will still pass whether you use it or not.