February 16, (THEWILL) – Nollywood actress and model, Idia Aisien, has revealed that she was hugely criticised for taking a lead role in the movie, ‘Nneka the Pretty Serpent’.
She made this known while speaking with media personality, Chude Jideonwo.
Aisien stated that she was criticised for not being Igbo and for being a dark-skinned lady instead of a light-skinned Igbo lady, who was originally used when the movie was first shot in 1994.
She added that she was, however, highly compensated with the positive review her role attracted on the International scene.
“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 Africans. A lot of people, who criticised the film criticised it because of the choice of Nneka, which broke my heart.”
