Nigerian actress Genevieve Nnaji has disclosed the reasons behind her decision to turn down opportunities to join Hollywood.
Nnaji shared her insights as a panelist at the 2024 AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum/Afreximbank annual meetings held recently in Nassau, the Bahamas.
During her session, Nnaji emphasized her passion for promoting Nollywood on a global scale as the main reason for declining Hollywood offers. “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 drive home,” she said. “Because I always believed in that. I always knew that we were capable of actually owning an industry like that that told our story for our people.”
Nnaji also recounted her experiences seeking partnerships in Hollywood following the success of her 2018 film, ‘LionHeart’. She realized that Hollywood stakeholders viewed her more as a commodity, interested in exploiting her talent for their gain. “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,” she stated. “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.”
Nnaji began her acting career at the age of eight in the popular television soap opera ‘Ripples’. She has since starred in numerous films, including ‘Blood Sisters’, ‘Ije’, ‘Mirror Boy’, and ‘Road to Yesterday’. In addition to her acting career, Nnaji owns a production company called The Entertainment Network (TEN).
In September 2018, she made history with her directorial debut, ‘Lionheart’, which became the first Netflix original film from Nigeria and the country’s first submission for the Oscars. Despite its success, the movie was disqualified for the Oscars due to its predominant use of English in the dialogue.
