Excerpts from Nollywoodactress Mercy Aigbe Gentry’s
recent chat with The
Entertainer.
It seems you are so
passionate about your latest
movie, Victims?
This is my new movie, it is my
latest effort. It is a very good
movie and I am proud of it. I put
in so much commitment in
anything I do. The same passion
I put into this is what I would
put into my next job and it was
what I actually put into my
previous job. So, I am very
passionate when it comes to
any of my jobs.
Were you satisfied with the
outcome of the private
premiere?
Yes I am. People kept asking
what would happen next
because we couldn’t screen the
movie till the end since the
following day was a Monday
and we didn’t want to take too
much of people’s time. I
discovered that everybody was
asking why we stopped the
movie and that made me happy
because it tells me that people
were following it.
Quincy Ayodele, one of my
guests, recently called me to
know the conclusion of the
movie and when it would be out
for the public. It arouses the
interest of the people who came
for the premiere, so it is a good
one for me.
When do you plan to release
the movie?
It would be open to the cinema
on November 20 and after that
it goes on DVD. I think storyline
makes the movie different and
the production was on point
because I carefully selected
people who worked on it. It has
a very strong message in terms
of social vices and the
characters interpreted it well.
It is actually a story of a young
lady who turned out to be a
serial killer because of what she
had seen and passed through.
Many times people go into a life
they don’t want for themselves;
we need to be careful so that
we don’t raise monsters. The
story is very touching and
emotional; it is a story people
will watch and learn a lot from.
How did you come about the
idea?
Most of it is actually fictitious,
but what inspired me to
produce it is the story of a
young girl who was raped. She
told me that she wished she
could actually revenge because
she doesn’t believe in the
judicial system here in Nigeria.
She believes that the culprit will
not be brought to book even
though she goes ahead to
report to the police and if at all
it takes a long process.
She just concluded that there is
nothing like justice in Nigeria
for a rape victim. I had to talk
to her and another thing that
didn’t want her to share the
experience was the fear of
stigmatisation. If people go
through such and talk about it,
you will find out that people in
the society try to see them in
another light because of what
they’ve gone through and it
shouldn’t be so. This is also part
of the things Victims addresses
as a movie.
What mechanism did you
put in place to stop pirates
from getting close to your
movie?
In many interviews I have
actually talked about piracy and
it is a huge problem in
Nollywood right now because as
a filmmaker you are also an
investor. You are investing with
the hope of getting your money
back and making profit, but it is
unfortunate that there is no
guarantee that you would get
your money back with piracy on
the increase. So as a filmmaker,
you would want to be careful
with the amount of money you
invest in a movie and it also
kills creativity. I try to put my
movie on a device that pirates
cannot reach.
I have tried as much as possible
to take care of that. But when it
eventually gets on DVD there is
little or nothing I can do about
that and that it what most
pirates wait for. The
government must come to our
aid; I believe there are laws
against piracy and they must be
enforced. If they know that
heavy penalty awaits them they
would turn over a new leaf.
Asides other businesses you
do including makeup and
running a boutique, can you
survive as an actress?
To an extent I would say yes; it
is just that lately it has become
very hard because of piracy.
When producers want to call
you for a job as an actress they
think of piracy and go for low
budget. It has affected our
artistry and movie producers
also don’t want to put in so
much money. That has actually
dealt with us in recent times. It
is the reason most of us delved
into other things to compliment
acting. For now, acting is not so
lucrative because of piracy.
You are from Edo State but
you are mostly known with
Yoruba movies…
I do English movies; it is just
that I do more of Yoruba movies
and got more popular in the
genre. But I actually started
with English movies. I did a
couple of soaps and two English
movies before I cross over to
the Yoruba genre. I would
rather call it faith, but I am a
professional and I am working
on my first English movie as a
producer. We are going on
locations very soon, precisely
January.
Between English and Yoruba
movies which do you
consider more rewarding?
I have actually done more
Yoruba movies, so I cannot
answer that question in all
honesty. But all I can say is that
it is one Nollywood; it is the
same way of production and
acting. The only difference is
the language or the medium the
information is passed.
Why did you give marriage
a second shot after your
first hit the rock?
Why not? I am still very young. I
don’t believe in giving up; I
believe that if you try once it
doesn’t work you can still try
again. Your second time might
even be better than the
previous. So, I was still very
young and I fell in love again.
Heavy-looking Nollywood Queen
The mother of 4 wore a black
It could have been a
. 
. 
debut album “Seyi or Shay”