Legendary Nollywood actress Stella Damasus, who has become one of the most celebrated figures in Nigerian entertainment over the course of a career stretching more than three decades, told the “Tea with T” podcast the surprisingly accidental story of how she stumbled into acting. She revealed that she never planned to be a professional actress and came to Lagos originally as a singer.
She explained that at just fifteen years old, she was working as a backup singer and performing jingles at Kingsuro studios in Lagos. One day, a friend invited her to tag along to an audition at NTA. Having no intention of auditioning herself, she dressed casually and simply went to keep her friend company.
According to Stella Damasus, a producer at the audition noticed her and asked her to read a script. She laughed throughout the reading because she had no idea what she was doing. Three weeks later, they tracked her down to offer her the role at a fee of ten thousand naira, which was an enormous sum compared to the seven hundred naira per month she was earning at the time.
She said: “I was 15 and I was a singer. I was singing in places like Jazzville in Yaba. I thought that was who I was going to be. And then one day my friend came and said she was going to NTA for an audition. I should come with her. I said just wear something, come. I wore a big shirt, my trousers and a pair of bathroom slippers. I didn’t think anybody would see me. I went with her and then someone came out and said have you auditioned? I said no I didn’t come to audition. They gave me a script and I was laughing throughout because I didn’t know what I was doing. Three weeks later they said you have the role, this is 10k and we need you for three to five days.”…….See More
Leave a Reply