If there’s anything that makes Young happy, it’s being around children and inculcating goodness in them, but when she got married to prolific actor, Norbert Young, the celebrity couple experienced delay in child bearing which made her feel that she had failed her spouse and relatives. Like biblical Sarah, she cuddled her child recently. God wiped away her tears and made her laugh. Gloria says she is grateful, but whether or not she has more children depends on God. In this exclusive inter-view, Gloria reveals that she’s currently living her dream to be a great mother and setting the pace for kid actors who want to be stars at The Centre For Media Development theatre academy. Excerpts:
Did you ever dream of becoming an actress?
I never dreamt of being an actress. When I was 11 years, I attended acting classes , but I didn’t take them seriously and my teacher reported me to my dad that I was not concentrating on my lines. Subsequently, my dad locked me up in his bed room and made me learn all my lines . My teacher he knew I could do it and my dad told me that anything that’s worth doing is worth doing well. I acted the role of a princess and everybody commended me. Initially, I didn’t like acting , because I felt rehearsals were burden-some and stressful, but I didn’t know God was preparing me for my future.
When did you decide to be an actor?
I started by working with Charley Boy on his show as script writer. Later, I became involved in production here in Nigeria, but one day some of the actors couldn’t come and I got angry. I had a dead line to meet and I had to improvise by being part of the show itself. People liked it and so did the producer of Glamour Girls who decided to give me a role. That was the turning point and subsequently I was regularly getting roles.
What has your academy given back to society since you became successful?
If we had to charge our students, each of them will pay like N100, 000 but we don’t charge much and that’s be-cause we’re heavily subsidized by the Catholic Church. Our goal is to inculcate good behaviour and skill in young children and we hope that by the time they are adults they’ll improve society. Some people say we are permissive , but we are not. We do not accept homosexuals and lesbians. There are ways they can make it without all that rubbish because their parents are inculcating good behaviour in them too . I don’t see why I cannot impact some of my knowledge on children. I love doing it. I have been working with children from different schools teaching them acting project and that’s why I am paying so much attention to them now.
What were your challenges as a journalist?
I didn’t like trekking to cover a beat, but that’s what happened most times and people ill treated me sometimes. It is only now that journalists are celebrated because in my days we were not that lucky , but I paid my dues. The belief that female journalists are wayward is fallacious. I was never wayward as a journalist or as an actress.
Journalist or as an actress. You are still waxing strong on screen. What’s the secret?
There is nothing as constant as change itself. We must embrace new beginnings and ide-as daily, we need to explore and learn to gain experience. I’ve not been doing the same thing I’ve been doing in the past ten years. That’s boring. I always look for ways to make a difference. For instance, if you cook egusi soup with ugu leaves today, tomorrow you might cook it with bitter leaves and subsequently you try different leaves to make it tastier. You know it -vor. I’m a versatile actress and I’m capable of playing different roles. I also explore the other side of me like my my voice on radio. I do a lot on radio including production. I don’t just do only movies, I also act on stage.
What are your challenges?
People don’t have much money now to experiment with new movies and a lot of them are being produced in the north, east and south. Most producers no longer shoot movies in Lagos because Lagos is no longer a conducive environment as there’s too much and power outages. If you want to shoot in Lagos, you do so on the outskirts of Lagos, at places like Iyana Ipaja, Ajah and Banana Island. In these places, you won’t be disturbed by genera-tor noise or people shouting all over the place. For instance, if we want to shoot at Ikeja or VI it will take us the whole day and our money is wasted that way. I have gone to Ijebu Ife to shoot, because it’s quiet and serene.
What project are you currently working on?
I am currently working on a project for kids of ages 6 to 12 preparing them for drama, dance and poetry. Some kids have graduated and performed for their parents. We’re grooming raw talents early in their lives and giving them exposure as people came from all walks of life aside the parents of the children to watch them per-form. I am doing this in con-junction with Centre For Media Development of the Catholic Church at Ojota, opposite Sa-cred Heart Catholic Church, Lagos and I am enjoying every bit of it. There are about 40 kids under our tutelage currently. I love working with children. This is our third year too and we have been training adults as well. The training of the adults is my husband’s responsibility. I only work with them because of this kids’ concept.
What does success mean to you?
Success comes from God and it means just being my-self and also working on my-self. Success is being happy with what I’m doing. If I am not happy how can I be successful or rather how can say I am successful but I’m sad. It’s not about how much money I have in my bank account. It’s about taking care of myself without running to beg someone to give me work. I make my own choices and I can decide what to do with my life at my own pace. Successful people make their choices and are contented with what they have. I look to the future with hope.
Have you ever experienced failure?
Oh yeah, many times, though I don’t want talk about it. (Laughs). I don’t want talk about that. It took me a long time to have a child and I felt bad. I thought I had failed my husband, myself and my family. I have only one child and I am happy . When there is life, there is hope. I am happy with who I am today. That’s why I say some things might be important to you but not to others. That’s what actually makes me human.
What was your inspiration when you were childless?
My husband was my strong pillar. He still is. I don’t know what I could have done without him. I mean I was ready to do anything and go anywhere because of infertility. They said go to that Babalawo and I was ready to go. I was ready to do anything, but my husband was there for me. He stopped me from all those things. He stood behind me solidly.
What advice were you getting from relatives and friends?
I have friends everywhere, including neighbors and everybody. People were like, sister how far now? I hear say this woman wey get belle, she go so so place. Why don’t you try it? It didn’t have to be people in the industry.
What has life taught you?
Wait on God and accept God`s will. You don’t know what He planned for you.
Do you still want more children?
My brother, if I had my way by now, I could have had 8 kids, but it is not a matter of having my way. It is God`s will.
What’s your take on soft porn movies in Nollywood?
It’s not allowed and it’s unacceptable. I don’t want to be part of it. I don’t even want to have anything to do with those people. I wasn’t trained that way. We should just stop that rubbish. In Glamour girls we never exposed our bodies. Ask those who expose their bodies how it’s affecting them now. Would they bring such script to me? Dem dey craze? They wouldn’t come to me with that because they know that I don’t accept rubbish.
How do you manage acting and being wife and mother?
It hasn’t been easy man-aging the home front, but so far, God has been behind me and my family. Friends have always rallied around me too. They have always been there for me. Sometimes, I had to be away from home for two to three weeks and my very close friend has always been there for me. She is like my daughter’s mother too. I don’t joke with that woman at all. My husband is also an actor and he under-stands what I am going through and I also understand what he is going through. That’s what makes it easy for both of us. Somehow we manage it
What is your most embarrassing moment?
I don’t remember, I don’t know how to remember those things. I don’t remember an embarrassing moment. It doesn’t register in my head. I am not the kind of person that’s too busy keeping negative things in my mind . I am too positive. I am too busy to be worried about it.
Which is your most challenging movie?
I’m yet to have one, but probably new and I didn’t know what I was doing . All of them have been challenging one way or another, but I am yet to see my most challenging movie.
What do you think about Nollywood at 20?
Nollywood has provided jobs for some jobless Nigerians including well educated ones . They decided to explore their talents and today they have jobs, not just before the cam-era, but behind the camera. So we cannot say Nollywood is not a major player in Nigeria’s economy.
What do you think about the quality of Nigerian movies ?
In fact, my brother, I don’t even know if we are going from bad to worse. We need to tell our selves the truth. Those who know how to do it are getting tired of unprofessional behavior. Those of us who know how to do it are concerned that the market is not there for movies anymore. We are getting tired of unprofessional people who are nography and stuff like that. We are getting tired of those who don’t know what they are doing. The same people are asked to come and produce and direct. Some people are now going to television, because television is it. The TV, we are sure, is heavily regulated. I prefer soap operas, because I live in the west and I won’t be forced to go live in the east or north just because I want to act.
Why do most Nollywood marriages crash?
I don’t know. My marriage is 11years old and it will last for-ever. It is not as if I don’t under-stand you, I do, but it doesn’t have anything to do with Nollywood again. It has a lot to do with your personality. You feel like you are just an actress and you’re a star. It doesn’t work that way. If you are the woman, be the woman at home and if you are the man be the man at home. You can’t play a dual role and marriage is give and take. You must agree on the percentage you will give and the percentage you will take. Mar-riage is between two strangers coming together and they must agree that they are learning. You must not expect your marriage to fail or succeed just be-cause your parents’ was . No, it doesn’t work that way. You must marry your friend and if you marry your friend every-thing will then fall in place.
What’s your advice to budding actresses who look up to you?
They should work hard, because anything that’s worth doing is worth doing well. Research your craft, research what you are doing. Don’t just think that everything or being a star will fall into your laps.
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