I Was Mocked For Not Being Light-Skinned And Igbo Enough For A Role – Idia Aisien

Nollywood actress, Idia Aisien has come out to recount how she was heavily criticized over her complexion and language in the entertainment industry.

She recently had her say via her social media page, and fans have been reacting.

According to her, she was very heartbroken by those who said she was not a good fit for the role in “Nneka The Pretty Serpent,” just because she is not Igbo and light-skinned.

Idia added that she was sad because Nneka is a fictional character and anyone could bring something different to portray her.

Her words, “When it first came out in the cinemas, I was a little bit heartbroken by some of the comments that people were leaving. Comments about me not being light-skinned or Igbo, about me destroying what meant something to a lot of Nigerians. Nigerians loved their veteran actors. They love their Nollywood classics. So, it was something that I just wished people could see how much passion went into it at the time.”

“I was hurt at first because Nneka is a fictional character and anyone could bring something different to the character but I don’t think that tribe and skin colour should matter. I mean, Black Panther was Americans pretending like they are in Africa. A lot of people who criticised it (the film- Nneka the pretty serpent), criticised it because of the choice of Nneka, which broke my heart.”

“Nigerians need to be kinder to women, we don’t like women in this country because if you look at everything in terms of job, pay, and how women are treated.”

Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject to several controversies.

The origin of the term “Nollywood” remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in the New York Times, where it was used to describe Nigerian cinema.

Charles Igwe noted that Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for the New York Times. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “Nigeria” and “Hollywood”, the American major film hub.

Film-making in Nigeria is divided largely along regional, and marginally ethnic and religious lines. Thus, there are distinct film industries – each seeking to portray the concern of the particular section and ethnicity it represents. However, there is the English-language film industry which is a melting pot for filmmaking and filmmakers from most of the regional industries.