Mercy Johnson-Okojie in a new touching interview with Nigerian Tribune got to talk about her humble beginning – living in an uncompleted building with lizards and her family members.
And how her brother had to take a menial job, working as a bricklayer to provide for the family.
Excerpts:
How has it been through fame and glamour?
There have been the good and bad times; there have been rumours and scandals. Sometimes when I cry in movies, it isn’t the script that makes me cry.
When I recall my humble beginning, I give thanks to God. When I remember how we moved into an uncompleted building and had to take cover whenever it rained because of the condition of the house;
how my brother did a menial job as a bricklayer to earn a living and those days when we rolled over a stick to cover the windows up till the point when I started acting and raised money to cover the roof… I recall those days we were living with lizards because the floor and the walls of the house were not plastered, or when I had scars as a result of my several falls.
So how did you start acting?
After my secondary school education, I failed the University Matriculation Examination (UME) and came back to Lagos to get a degree.
While that was on, I watched Genevieve Nnaji in a movie entitled: Sharon Stone. I later approached a friend for assistance to feature in a movie. He said I had a great body and that I would make a good actress. He later took me to the National Theatre, but a role did not come until a year later, when I had my first lead role in a film entitled: The Maid.
The Maid was my starting point and it was quite challenging to play the lead role because it was my first movie. I was fidgeting when I saw the likes of Eucharia Anunobi, whom I regarded as a screen goddess during my secondary school days. I never thought I would make it with people like that.
So, when I saw her, I was so excited and considered standing beside her as sacred.
She actually realized that and later helped me by giving me the needed courage.
