Nse Ikpe-Erin has opened up on how she started her journey as an actress.
Nollywood actress, Nse Ikpe-Etim has narrated how she wound up as an actress after attempting to flee from her parents in a bid not to get married early.
It was never thought out, she was confused at the time but the sight of a movie location while en route Badagry, a coastal town in Lagos Nigeria got her to alight from the bus she boarded and as they say, fate aligned the rest.
“After school I didn’t think I was going to be an actor. It wasn’t the first thing on my mind. I did it in a bid to run away from getting married early. I ran away from home with a backpack, it was the second time ever I had gotten on a bus. So I got on a bus and instead of going to Satellite Town where we lived at the time, I went the other way towards Badagri cuz I wanted to run away. Then, in some village along that road, I saw cameras. So I jumped down and that was the first time I met Kate Henshaw. That was 1996, when I graduated. That’s how I met Julius Agwu, Francis Agwu, all of them were on that set. The movie was called Scars of Womanhood I think but for me it was not so much about the work, it was that I wasn’t home. I got down from the bus and I told them I read theatre arts. They said oh okay, she (Kate Henshaw) needs a friend. I met her (Kate) and we formed a bond that has lasted till tomorrow.
Meanwhile my mother was looking for me. I got back home after about two weeks and my mother started washing me, “You are going to disgrace me!”. I said “Ah, I don’t want to marry.”
I didn’t tell her about the movie set, I just told her that it looks like I’m going to (be an actress) and she said “Over my dead body.”
But I never wanted to be an actress. Even when I was studying theatre arts, they teach administration which is where I said I would do admin work which is like a producer, I’m not doing acting. But they said you have to act (because you need to learn all sides before you can get a degree). I argued and argued. Eventually, I did my first stage play which had a lot of soliloquy. I refused to go for rehearsals. I didn’t go for rehearsals till 3 days to the show and I thought I was going to fail. Somehow, I got a standing ovation which I still don’t get. Then they told me to do a second night and I said no I’m not doing it. The first one was for my degree. I refused but they forced me to do the second night. And then I did that but after that I said I’m never getting back on stage.
I really didn’t want to be an actor and I think it shows because I struggle with everything that it comes with apart from just my work.”
Nse is arguably one of the most talented actresses in Nollywood and is well-decorated in terms of awards and acclaim. Throughout her extensive career, Nse has starred in a number of blockbuster movies including Reloaded, Mr. and Mrs., The Visit, Fifty, Quam’s Money, and more