RAGEGIST

Omotola Jalade, Genevieve Nanji Lead Pack Of Worn-Out Actors In Nollywood

Article | February 22, 2014 - 5:59am |Juwon Michelis

Last year, controversy broke out about Mercy Johnson being the highest paid actress in Nollywood at the moment. She charges between N1.8 to N2m Marketers and producers alike cried out aloud that she be banned.
In a reply, Mercy Johnson said her fee isn't for every movie producer. So if you simply can't afford her, then you move onto who you can afford.

But seriously, some old faces who helped build Nollywood to what it is today are gradually fading.

Should this be so? Afterall, we watch foreign movies and see that their actors are not easily done away with, and that's because they have high budget movies and equally get support both from government and private bodies. So it's easy to pay their A-list actors no matter how high their charges are, and producers and marketers can be sure to recoup their money back once the movies first hit cinemas before being out on CD and  DVD.

But the above isn't so in Nollywood. That's why we find that most of our favourite faces have faded so quickly, and they are left to find out other ways of survival like going into business, scouting for deals with corporate bodies and so on.

Besides, aside the fact that Nollywood can no longer pay their high fees being the reason why they get dumped, reports reveal that people are tired of seeing old and recycled faces in almost all the movies, hence, the continual scouting for fresh blood with less charges.

According to a movie marketer, he argued that the likes of Omotola Jalade and Genevieve Nnaji are no longer hot. "They are both worn out", he said. He explained that although they are still movie stars any day any time and are making their money from different deals and businesses however, when it comes to movies, their market value has dropped drastically. That's why you'll notice that in the last two-three years, both actresses have not been featured in any movie, no thanks to their high price tags. "We want to recoup our investment and make money", he said.

Genevieve and Omotola charge between N2m and N1.6, almost same as Mercy. But why are both not in high demand like Mercy?

Stake holders have argued that although Omosexy and Genny are good actresses however, they are not as versatile as Mercy.

While Omosexy and Genny get restricted movie scripts to play either runs babes, rich girls, love movies, Mercy fits into any character you could ever imagine- from a diva, runs girl, villager, corporate chick, mother, grandmother, villain, hero, name it- that's why she's still in business.

The likes of Stephannie Okereke, Stella Damasus, Rita Dominic, Joke Silver, Oge Okoye, Monalisa Chinda, Ramsey Noah, Jim Iyke, Desmond Elliot and Pete Edochie can be rolled up into one category. They too are stereotyped in movies. They are said not to be versatile enough for producers to still chase after them. So it's easy to forget them immediately new and exciting faces make debut.  

So what's the saving grace for these already rejected actors?

It's best if they want to stay relevant in the movie circle to go into producing their own movies just like Uche Jumbo, Desmond Elliot, Kunle Afolayan, Funke Akindele, Rita Dominic and others. That way, they can play lead characters and still be seen. But of course, what that means is that they get to feature in less movies, get more money if their movie make high sales and run at losses whenever their work don't do well in the market.

And they can always make investment into other businesses from money they made from their vibrant days- that's if some of them were wise enough to have known that before the down-turn.