Dear Genevieve Nnaji, I am disappointed in you

By Olamide Jasanya

I am not one to blindly believe things that I hear about people, so when my colleagues who attended the screening of Half Of A Yellow Sun came back with reports of your faulty acting, I was quick to defend you, not because I thought they were wrong, but because I was sure it couldn’t have been as bad as they made it seem.

A few weeks later, I got a chance to see the movie and alas! I was wrong and they were right. It turned out worse than I ever imagined. Your interpretation of Ms. Adebayo was bland and none of the few scenes you appeared in were memorable.

It was as though you didn’t make any effort to leave your comfort zone and get into character because nothing was different about the way you played the role and the way you would have delivered those lines during a random conversation with colleagues or siblings.

Did the sight of the Hollywood actors suddenly rob you of your acting prowess or have you never been as talented as we think? I couldn’t bear to watch you, one of Nigeria’s best actresses, our own Julia Roberts, put up such a terrible act.

Did you not feel challenged seeing Chiwetel Ejiofor, who has lived in the UK all his life deliver his lines and mannerisms perfectly, like a typical Igbo man? Why then couldn’t you, a proper Nollywood babe, play a Yoruba lady convincingly? Or are you implying that the Hollywood guys are simply better in every aspect?

Dear Genevieve Nnaji, I am disappointed in you, but you still remain one of my favourite Nigerian actresses and this is solely because of your mastery at the use of ‘mystery’ to maintain your star power.