If anyone expects star actress, Genevieve Nnaji, to migrate to Hollywood, that person may have to wait forever.
The reason is that she is not going to do so based on a sour experience she had when she romanced Hollywood in the past.
According to her, the American film industry was out to exploit her instead of giving her a great experience.
Genevieve noted this when she spoke on a panel at the 2024 AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum/Afreximbank Annual Meetings.
She said: “For the first time, I realised I was a commodity. I thought, you know, given what I had done with Lionheart, and all of that, I was going to have an opportunity to do more. Getting there and having the kind of support that obviously CANEX is bringing on board, but I thought I could find it in Hollywood. That was not quite the case.
“They wanted what I had but for their benefit. It was all about their story. It was all about how, even if it was our story, I could make it more authentic to their own understanding of whatever Africa is because they did have a lot of literature in their archives.”
Genevieve said she chose to stay in Nigeria and contribute to the industry’s growth rather than pursue opportunities in Hollywood.
She said: “But I am Nollywood. I could have gone to Hollywood a long time if I wanted to. But I had a dream to build an industry in Nigeria that could rival it. That’s because I’ve always believed in that. I have always believed that we were capable of actually owning an industry like that, that told our story for our people. I wanted that. I respect what Hollywood is doing. I respect what Bollywood is doing and I felt like Nollywood had an equal chance at it.
“So when I found it wasn’t quite what they had in mind I was like I’m just going to wait this out and the Covid happened and the worlds switched at that point and Africa sort of became it.”
