Mercy Macjoe, the Nollywood star, has revealed that she had the passion for acting right from childhood.
But despite this, her soldier father wanted her to step into his shoes by joining the military.
Now, how did she escape her dad’s rigid plot for her? And what’s her mom’s role in all of this? Mercy Macjoe bares it all in this exclusive interview. Enjoy it.
Tell us how you ventured into Nollywood?
I started acting professionally in 2011. I had the privilege to play a major role in a film entitled, Lonely Princess. My mom helped me to get a number of a talent show; I called the number and was told to come over for an audition which l went with other people. I was shortlisted and fortunately for me, I got my first movie role.
Unlike other actors, what gave you an edge to break into the limelight? Did you have any kind of formal training?
No, I didn’t. Acting has been what I’ve always wanted to do. As a matter of fact, my father was an army officer who invited me to join the army. I went to an army school, and he got the form for me to be a fully trained soldier, but I eventually didn’t go. I told my parents I wanted to be an actress and my mom supported me. So, I would say because of how dedicated I was and also because of my background, I put so much dedication into acting ever since I was young. Anyway, that’s just who I am. I invest my time and then invest in myself too. So, when I got the opportunity to act, it was like ‘yes, this is me’. I would say that is what stood me out. On a good day, people think I’m naturally very aggressive, that’s because of the way I act in movies; I put in so much energy. So, you can say that is who I am.
Aside who we see on screen, who is Mercy Macjoe?
To be honest, Mercy Macjoe is a totally different person from what people see and watch on TV. Naturally, I don’t like to shout. If you are a fan, we can always be friends. I’ve met a lot of fans that later became friends. In movies, I’m always shouting; it’s like I want to break everybody’s head, I’m beating my husband here and there; but in real life, I can’t even stand it. I am the typical opposite of my film character. I am an easy-going, soft-spoken, and no-too-much-drama kind of person. But in movies, I am full of all the dramas you can think of.
What are the top five movies you’ve played lead roles in?
I’ve done a lot of lead roles. I’ve been fortunate enough to always get lead or major character.
Which of the movies was your turning point?
I did Sugar Sisi, an old film and replica of Nigerian version of the foreign movie, I Spit On Your Grave; I don’t know if you have seen it. It was low budget, but such a powerful movie. In the film, I played a character that was raped, and almost naked, she came back from the swamp where they thought she had been killed and started killing all the people involved. I wore a boxer pant and bra all through and when the film came out, it had a lot of people talking and asking, ‘who is this girl?’ And then, I did another film, Magdalene, a Tiv story about how they give their wives as refreshments to their friends, but they said it doesn’t happen anymore. We did a story about it that was very controversial and Tiv people were like, ‘why would you break this kind of story, these things don’t exist anymore’. The film was good because it has both negative and positive comments, and it got a lot of people talking.
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