Are you a fan of star actress, movie producer and philanthropist, Queen Blessing Ebigieson? Do you have a crush on her and hoping to hook up with her someday? If you do then just forget it! Reason: Queen is already taken! This much the actress, who recently released her fourth Yoruba movie, Ejomiko, disclosed to The Entertainer in an exclusive chat.
Queen Ebigieson described her new lover as the best thing that has ever happened to her: “I am in a relationship right now. I am engaged; I have a fiancé. He is a very lovely guy, humble, nice, God fearing and charming, but we are taking it easy.”
With a dreamy look in her eyes, she added: “And we love each other so much. Last year December, we almost got married but I was on location in America so we postponed it.”
Queen broke up with the father of her nine-year-old son many years back. Could we say she has finally found love after so many years? “No, I think I have found love for the very first time,” she quipped, her visage crumbling in a smile as she continued, “because judging by the way I am treated by my new man, I think I was never in love with my son’s father. You see there were times you think that you’re in love but you later realise that what you had was not love, probably it was infatuation. And besides, I was very young at the time I got hooked to my son’s father. I was just 23, so I was naive. Compare that to now that I am a little above 30 with a clearer head to determine who I love or who really loves me or who just wants to take advantage of me. For me, I have fallen in love for the very first time.
“I have never been married and I don’t want to talk about my relationship with my son’s father because all the interviews I have had in the past, reporters always tried to raise the issue but the truth of the matter is that my son is a very beautiful boy, he makes me very happy. I don’t regret having him and I don’t hate his father either. God knows why it did not work out between us. My son was nine years old on March 9.”
Once upon a time…
Today, Ebigieson has made a name for herself as an actress and movie producer to reckon with. With four movies and over a dozen film roles, her rise in Nollywood has been astronomical. Once upon a time, the going was so rough she had to sell tomatoes, peppers and onions to support her mum and siblings.
Going down memory lane Ebigieson narrated: “I was born with a silver spoon but along the line it was taken away. I have forgiven my father for the maltreatment we endured, so I wouldn’t really want to go into that. For us, growing up was not really rosy.”
According to the actress, she is from a family of six children and as growing up wasn’t really easy; she had to assist her mum who had a restaurant. “Very early in the morning, I would wake up to prepare food for customers and I would still have to go to school on time so as not to be punished. By the time I was 15, I was selling peppers and onions in front of my mother’s canteen, to support my family,” she remarked.
At 18, it finally dawned on Ebigieson that she had to do more to pull her family out of poverty, and so she joined Nollywood. Though, she had a promising start in the English sector of Nollywood, after a while, the roles were far and in-between.
“I am a very strong woman and I don’t give up. I don’t believe in giving up because it is not an option for me. Why I started producing was because the acting roles were becoming scarce and in-between.
“I just wasn’t getting enough money to sustain my son and I. So I said ‘why don’t you try producing?’ and that was how I started. Today, I am not just an actress but also a moviemaker. Now I make money from producing and acting. I am also a scriptwriter. I wrote the scripts for the four Yoruba movies that I produced. So, financially, I can say that it is better than it used to be,” she said.
The big break
The big break finally came for Queen Ebigieson after she shot and released Lori Ere, her second movie. Commenting on how she pulled it off, she said: “Lori Ere was the turning point for me. After shooting the movie, I launched it with Pasuma. It was star-studded. Before the movie was released, the launch video was sold; people knew I was coming because I gave it a lot of promotions.
“It was so successful that I was able to launch my foundation. I must confess the movie was a huge success. I made money from it. I had to shift my trip to India because of that job; the movie sold out.”
Back to the basics
Having carved a place for herself as an actress and movie producer, Ebigieson is poised to hit the English sector of Nollywood once again. But why is she deviating? “I have not deviated,” she said defensively. “Like I said earlier, I have Temi Ni Kan in the market. Part two of the movie would come out soon. The reason I decided to do an English film was that I started as an English actor and now I can say I have come of age. I know the rules, I have paid my dues so it is time for me to come back to the English sector and tell them that I have been able to use other means to learn how to do this business.
“The films should hit the market by the middle of this year. They are entitled My Fate and Change My Fate. They are actually my first English movies as a producer, but not as an actress because I have been in the industry for over 14 years, and worked with the biggest names in the industry.”
Advice
Having seen and done it all in a career spanning 14 years, Queen Ebigieson has an advice for youngsters. Hear her: “When people say there is no work, they are just being lazy because they have all it takes to make it. As long as you have your hands and your feet, you are already equipped to take on any challenge and triumph.
“I had to pay my way through school while assisting my mum as a student. You don’t have to wait for government to do things for you, so you must strive to be what you want to be. I became an actress at 18.
“In my case, I have done everything in the movie industry to survive. At a point when the jobs were not coming, I started dancing. I danced for Tony Tetuila and Pasuma just to mention a few, while I did ushering jobs at Nigerian Breweries’ events. That ensured I always had money to send to my mum and family for upkeep and also pursue my education. I was shuttling between Bida, Niger State and Lagos then.
No comments:
Post a Comment