Nollywood actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, who has taken a break from acting, has revealed reason for doing so in a recent interview.
The actress fondly called Omosexy, who has acted in a myriad of blockbuster movies, said she took a break from acting because she needed to re-strategize so as to make movies that are worth her time.
“I slowed down for many reasons. You know we started a long time ago, I think people forget that I have been in the industry for 28 years.
“So, sometimes, you have to re-organise yourself. I can’t continue to pump out movies the way I have and not grow. So, I’m growing. And what that means is that I need time to do other things, I have adult children, I’ve had to take care of that. I’ve had to also move back a little bit and also grow my businesses. I have a studio in Lagos, Nigeria.
“I’m also into real estate and I relocated to the United States a few years ago, I have businesses there also that I have to grow.
“So, once an actor, always an actor. I will be coming back to the screens when I think it’s time and I prefer to do projects that are actually meaningful, other than just doing projects just because we want to be working, you know.
“I’ve done that when I was younger. So, you’ll see me back on the screens very soon, by God’s grace with projects that I know are worth my time,” she stated.
Ekeinde was introduced to acting while accompanying a friend to an audition.
Her first acting role was in the 1995 film ‘Venom’ of Justice, directed by Reginald Ebere.
She was given the lead role in the film. Her first major role was in the film ‘Mortal Inheritance’ (1995), where she played a sickle-cell patient who fought for her life against small odds of survival.
Since then, she has starred in several films, including Games Women Play, Blood Sisters, All My Life, Last Wedding, My Story, The Woman in Me and others.
For her role in ‘Mortal Inheritance’, she won “Best Actress in an English Speaking Movie” and “Best Actress Overall” at the 1997 Movie Awards. She was the youngest actress in Nigeria at that time to win this.
After shooting roughly three hundred video movies, Ekeinde received her first cinematic movie role in the 2010 film “Ije”.
This film was shot at locations in Jos and the United States.
“Ije” was the highest grossing Nollywood film at the time.
