The veteran actress says she and her contemporaries stood out because they remained true to themselves rather than trying to imitate others

Nollywood veteran, author, coach, and singer Stella Damasus has identified authenticity as the defining quality that set her generation of leading female actors apart during the early era of Nollywood.

The veteran actress, whose career has spanned decades across stage and screen, said she and her contemporaries stood out because they remained true to themselves rather than trying to imitate others.

“We were very authentic,” Damasus said on the Pulse Old vs New show. “We were not trying to be like other people. We’re not trying to copy other people or be who we’re not. Everything was authentic.”

Driven by Passion, Not Fame or Money

Damasus, who authored the book Mama It’s a Girl, added that she — like other big actresses of the era, including Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade Ekehinde — had no idea how far and how big they would later become from doing what they passionately enjoyed.

“I’m going to assure you, we were not doing it because of the fame or the money. There was no social media to tell us how big we could get. We did not know,” the veteran said.

“After you see yourself on a poster, that’s about it. People will recognise you here and there and all of that at that time. It wasn’t about the fame. It wasn’t about the money. How much were they paying us?”

“We just loved the job. It was more about passion.”

Bold Enough to Break Through

The prominent screen actor recalled how tough and daring it was for any female to be seen as an actor.

“At that time, it wasn’t easy for females at that age to be allowed by parents and families to enter the industry,” she said. “So those of us who could were bold.”

The Role That Changed Everything

Damasus admitted that the 2005 movie The Widow — in which she played a grieving wife subjected to intense emotional and physical degradation by her husband’s relatives following his sudden death — was one of her most challenging roles, and one of the biggest, because it changed her career overnight both at home and abroad.

“But I’m grateful for the role because I saw what could happen, and then it did happen,” she added.