NOLLYWOOD ACTRESS, LIZZY ANJORIN SHARES HER SECRETS WITH SAMOD BIOBAKU

Scandals have opened doors for me – Actress Lizzy Anjorin

By Samod Biobaku

Sixthsense34@yahoo.com

Popular Nollywood actress, Elizabeth Ibukunoluwa Anjorin popularly known as Lizzy Anjorin has been blessed with a visage, structural configuration and a reservoir of acting talent capable of placing Nigeria on the international map of film production. Interestingly, the fair-skinned actress has apparently lived up to expectations in this regard.

However, like a double-edged sword, the same qualities that have brought her fame and recognition in the Nigerian entertainment industry have turned around to haunt her.

Within a very short space of time, the actress rode high into the clouds of success with several glaring monuments to show for her creative crusade but as earlier noted, these came at a very expensive price.

Like most actresses and celebrities in her class, Anjorin has had her fair share of achievements and but has been unable to shake off some of the demons from her past; in the forms of scandals and controversies that once threatened to destroy an empire she struggled and toiled hard to build.

When she recently spoke with Simply Samad in Lagos, it was beehive of revelations as she spoke extensively on how the industry that made her suddenly turned around and threatened to bite her head off.

Speaking on the scandals and controversies she have trailed her career, Anjorin revealed that despite the pain she has had to endure, the scandals have proven to be a blessing in disguise for her.

In this interview, the sexy actress spoke about how it all started, her current projects, how she survived the criticisms hurled in her direction and how she has been able to come this far.

What kind of person are you?

To God be the glory. People tell me that I’m humble and straight-forward. I love work. I like telling the truth and I hate cheats. I hate being intimidated. I love people and I love people being around me. I don’t like being alone but I don’t like a crowd of friends either. I like friends from who in can learn. Through these people, I can see beyond the world.

Background information

I was born in Lagos; in Ikeja. I attended College of Education Kaduna (the school’s outreach in Jos). After that, I went to Federal Polytechnic Ilaro where I studied Banking and Finance. I then moved to Ogun State University now Olabisi Onabanjo University. I went to the university because of the discrimination between polytechnics and universities.

What’s your acting story?

I met a friend in my faculty at OOU around 2003. We were both taking Geography and Regional Planning and we shared a lot of courses. Before acting, I used to model. I was also an activist in school and did not like being oppressed and it always got me into trouble but I didn’t mind. My friend kept asking me to take up acting; saying I had a natural talent for it. She kept saying that I was capable of taking up multiple personalities. I told her I didn’t know anybody there so she gave me a number of her producer friend and asked me to call him. She wrote the number on the cover of my text book. When I got home, I just dropped the book somewhere and didn’t see it again until about six months when I was re-arranging my library. I dialed the number and I remember the person who owned the number did not answer the call but I didn’t let that discourage me. I kept dialing the number until the person picked. It was a male voice and I heard and I told him about my friend who gave me the number and asked if I could join his rehearsal class. He said it was ok and that was how it all began. He asked me to come to Abeokuta. I picked up my car key and drove down to the place where he asked me to meet him. When I got there, I noticed that they were all seated on the floor and I told myself at that point that I could not do it. I could not afford to sit on the floor. However, that day, I saw two great actors at the venue of the rehearsal and I was really overwhelmed. I never believed I could see such people. When the man asked me if I was ready, I answered in the affirmative. That helped me change my mind and I sat on the floor.

Later on, my boss called me and tried to explain some things to me. He said he understood the fact that I was an undergraduate but that I had to drop my pride and focus on the work. It took a while for me and the rest of the crew to get along but we eventually got along. My boss (Olusegun Adeniji) eventually died in 2006. We were over 60 and we all went our separate ways. I however decided to continue despite my boss’s death but it didn’t feel the same and I was surprised when they called me one day and told me I was due for graduation. I was elated and they gave me a list of the things I was expected to bring. I noticed that they asked me to bring more things than they asked others to bring but glory be to God.

So much has been written and said about you. You come across as very controversial. How do you go to sleep with some of the nasty things that have been written and said about you in the media?

All the things that have been written about me in the media are nothing but lies.

Really? They say you’re fighting this person – You’re fighting that person

The fighting issue was not a fight and that is why I say the media has not been honest. Someone called me and said I should stop calling her by her name. She said I should start adding ‘aunty’ whenever I wanted to call her. I objected to that and told her that she did not know my age. It was just an age thing. She tried to make a fuss out of the whole thing. It was not as bad as the media claimed it was.

Scandals

I have had my share of scandals and the media have always helped to fuel these controversies; Lizzy Anjorin stole this. Lizzy Anjorin stole that. Lizzy Anjorin fought this person. Lizzy Anjorin fought over a man. I can proudly say that those who have tried to bring me down are all failures today. They failed in all ramifications and did not succeed in bringing me down. They called me names. They said a lot of false things about me. Not just the media now; even people. I believe in nemesis a lot. If you do good, you’ll live to see the fruit and if you do bad, you’ll also reap the fruits. The good thing is that when ever people get to meet me for the first time, they say they are surprised because what they see in me is absolutely different from what they had heard about me prior to meeting me. They say they had expected to see someone very proud.

Of all the things that have ever been written about you, which one pained you the most?

It was the one where I was accused to stealing a car. How could I possibly steal car that I bought with my own money? It’s just ridiculous. That is all part of my past now and I really don’t want to dwell on it.

How does your mum handle the scandals?

Ha! It was hers that was even worse. You wouldn’t believe that she developed hypertension after reading some of those untrue things about me. In 2009, it was so down that she was even down with stroke but thank God, she’s very fine now.

You must have been very scared when her blood pressure went up like that

I was very scared o. I was afraid because I thought she was going to die. You know I was the only child and she was delivered of me at a very old age. I have no brother or sister. I’m the only child and that was why the scandal affected her that badly. At a point, before I was born, she had even given up hope on being able to bear a child.

Have you ever cried over something that was written about you before?

Yes I have and what made me cry were the false stories. It always feels like a dream and on countless occasions, I have had to knock on the wall just to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming. When you try to please the world ad the world turns out to be something else, you will run mad. It was that bad. I have been through a very tough experience with people who were supposed to care about me but like I said, God has been very good to me. I’m a very flashy person and most men who come across me can’t resist me. I however end up having them as brothers and God fathers because I don’t want to destroy the relationship we share. I’m a not a lady who jumps from one man to another. I I was, I would have concluded that it nemesis getting back at me.

The negative publicity that you have had must have cost you certain things. You must have lost something that really hurt you. Could you tell us about any such thing that you lost?

I’ve lost so many things but I believe that I lost those things because they did not really belong to me. God is not a wicked God. If that thing really belongs to me then I wouldn’t have lost it in the first place. Whatever you lose in life, it has been destined that you will lose it. Let me confess to you. I am using this medium to tell the whole world that if you are still alive, you can still be better than the president. Last two years, I thought it was over. Last two years, I gave up as a result of the scandals. It was something that affected me even up to the level of the marketers. It got so bad that you would hardly see me on posters at that time. The scandals have made me step up in life. They have opened doors for me. I met a woman who told me she had heard the story before when it happened to someone else. She said the person turned out great and said so shall mine also be in Jesus name. She said that in the next one year, I would have cause to glorify God. The woman invited me to Abuja and said she had been following my story. She said I was her clone. She said when she was my age, something similar happened to her.

Would you say love has been fair to you?

Yes it has.

Are you dating anyone now?

Even if I was, I wouldn’t tell you.

Why now? If you love him, you should be proud of him

I am… Like I said, the media has not been kind to me. I don’t want to talk about my relationship.

Are you taking applications?

Ah! The door is open.

What’s your latest project?

Iyawo Abuke.