Imoh Eboh is an actress, a creative, and cultural industry who has featured in some popular Nollywood movies. She is also the producer of Sweet Potato Films and the co-founder of the Adansonia Foundation. In this interview by Kingsley Alumona, she speaks about her acting career and other matters.
As someone who studied international relations, did you undergo any formal training before starting your acting and music career?
Oh, yes, I did study for acting. To be precise, I have a distinction and a gold medal in Musical Theatre from the London Academy for Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA). I started with acting master classes, then got a certificate in acting from Royal Arts Academy in 2014. I also have a certificate in producing (film) from EbonyLife Creative Academy, where my film ‘Stupid Finder’ won Best Film and other eight prestigious awards in 2022. I obtained an AFRIFF Acting Training Certificate in 2015 and a few others. I am too Nigerian, not to get a certification before working.
Did I already say there is no music career? Let me add “yet”. Think of music, it won’t be bad to venture. I sing really well. I used to be able to articulate why I wouldn’t venture into the music industry per se, but now I can put every part of my being into it. Okay, I am over-talking now. When I venture, I can respond to the music career question.
In one article, you stated that you had always wanted to be in films since you were eight years old. How were you able to sustain this dream for almost twenty years before you became an actor?
What is in you, is in you. I am a born actor who has honed her skills. I grew up as an entertainer from the days we had a stage-looking TV console in my house. My formative years had me entertaining my family and the furniture in my house. My parents knew how to have fun. I turned the house karaoke microphone into my personal microphone. I had been asked to sing at people’s weddings since I was 10 and had the luxury of showing off my skills (there was no social media to amplify). I sing well—and, like I already mentioned — have a distinction in Musical Theatre from LAMDA. I will not say I am a Musician, I never tried becoming one. I am a professional performer. I also produce beautiful audiovisuals.
This ’20 years’ thing should end. I am certain that children in the 1990s who dreamt of being doctors are now medical doctors. Their process won’t be sensationalised to: “It took me six years in secondary school, seven years in tertiary institution and four years of gradual growth to call myself a medical doctor.
I went through secondary education and university. I served Nigeria and I worked for a while. It is not as if I did nothing from the age of 8 till I turned 28. That was probably a nice-to-have headline you saw with the publisher. Reading the actual article would have helped with better context. Nothing like a music career exists in my vocabulary for now. I am not certain where this was gotten from. Imoh is a musician. Please let me know where this is. Point me in the direction. Is there some other life I live? It would be interesting to know.
How would you describe the first two early years of your acting career? What were the satisfying and discouraging sides of this phase of your career?
A beautiful journey. I will stick with that. You know what? Until I have the right response for this, I will return to respond. I will say I am still in my first two years of acting if you bring it all together. I am grateful and I have been grateful on this journey.
As a producer at Sweet Potato Films, tell us about the films you have produced. Which of the films would you consider the best and why?
We make impact films at Sweet Potato Films. As a global creative and cultural industries professional, I am about impact through education and entertainment. I do not consider any of my produced films as the best—they are all best films, campaigns and PSAS.
I don’t like boxes, they can make you choke. Producing for hire and directly producing stories I want to tell, leave my mind expanded and open to tell more. Like an onion, there is a lot to unfold and many bests to come from Sweet Potato. We are opening up a lot through storytelling.
You have featured in films like ‘Return of Jenifa II’, ‘Jenifa’s Diaries’, ‘King of Boys’, ‘The Wilder Flower’, ‘Blood Sisters’, ‘The Razz Guy’, among others. Each film you act in, what does it teach you about life and society?
With a gun to my head for this question, I would say ‘The Wildflower’ made me exude the part of me that empathises with people. Yinka’s character was very relatable. She spoke up for abused women, even if she was in a position according to societal standards, not to speak on topics like rape or being a victim. Till today, I love the role of Yinka from ‘The Wild Flower’. Of course, I appreciate every other role I have played. Long series like ‘Riona’ and ‘Masquerades of Aniedo’ should also have special mentions on the list of my body of work.
What have the films taught me? The way of living of people from our history and spaces I have never been in. I have studied to become other people for some time. Acting makes you become. This is a major lesson—to be in people’s shoes.
Have you thought of acting in Hollywood or other international film industries? If you have thought about it, which Hollywood actor or actress would you like to act with and why?
Yes. I have an Impact Series I was a part of in 2018 and released in 2019 in Ghana with the Youth Bridge Foundation on education and child abuse. My claim to fame for international acting. Yes, please, I have valid dreams of acting and producing across the world. Hollywood, Bollywood (I have my claim to fame with ‘Namaste Wahala’, a Nollywood and Bollywood collaboration I was a part of as an actress) and every other film industry across the world.
Your acting career seems to be more active than your music endeavours. Tell us about your music life and business.
I never told you or anyone I was a musician. I have a beautiful success record in musical theatre. More research should have been done before these questions were posed (laughs). I am not a musician. I can be one if I want to. I just have never ventured outside musical theatre. Have you heard any musical single from me?
What are the major challenges facing Nollywood and how do you think these challenges can be addressed?
The challenges are peculiar to certain sects in their different forms. I may not want to speak to that.
Are you currently working on any project? Where do you see your acting and music career in five years?
I cannot share my five-year plan publicly. That is purely my business and for people to see as the plans unfold.
You were in a recent fireside chat tagged ‘Beyond the stage: The business of African arts and entertainment for global impact’. What were the major highlights of the chat?
You will need to listen to it or read about it. Godwin Tom has a wealth of knowledge on arts and entertainment. The fireside chat was brilliant. Trust the Premia Business Network to set up conversations for growth.
Apart from acting, you have a passion for education, which you said you started volunteering for at the age of ten and later founded the Adansonia Foundation. Tell us what inspired this passion in you and what the foundation does.
11 is the only age I have ever said I started volunteering. I would agree I started volunteering for impact at the age of 11, from Child-to-child Network, to BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights, to Project One Million Souls Orphanage Support Team, and many others. All of those led me to create and co-found the Adansonia Foundation when I was 21.
Tell us about your husband and children, and how they help you manage the stress associated with your work.
Thanks for the advance prayer. At the moment, I have family and friends who support me. I have never been married, and I have only children who are sponsored by Adansonia Foundation as my children.
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