I don’t feel bad growing up in an orphanage – Eva George

Eva George

Movie producer and writer, Eva George, tells ‘Nonye Ben Nwankwo about her career and how she grew up as an orphan

You were working on a movie project that has to do with orphans recently, are you done with it?

The movie is titled Last Minute. It was actually my first project as a film maker. It is a big budget movie. We are not done with it. We shot some scenes but we decided to restructure the script and every other thing. So we had to stop for now until we are ready. It is a very massive project that I started in 2012.

So what are you currently doing?

I have a series I am working on at the moment. It’s called Issues. It is a comedy drama series about the issues that affect the urban Lagos youth. It tells the story of a lady from Ibadan. Coming to Lagos is something she has looked forward to and she experiences certain issues.

Some might think the movie is like Funke Akindele’s Jenifa…

It is not like Funke’s movie in any way. Issues doesn’t have a particular story line. Like the title, it talks about several issues of life. They are two different movies. It is just that they might have the same background.

You write, you direct, you model and you also act; are you not doing so many things at the same time?

I am no longer a model. I used to be a model.

So why did you stop?

I used to be very slim. But now, I am just Instagram model. I upload my pictures on Instagram alone. I am a very versatile person. I am a business person. I put my investment where my passion lies. I have passion for filmmaking, for media and for weddings. That is why I have three brands that cater for things I have passion for.

Did you actually say you were slim?

Yes.

So what happened?

What happened? I think I would say it got to a point and I lost it. That is the best way I can explain it.

Was it food and your eating habit?

I can’t really say. I just ignored a lot of things. I just wanted to enjoy life and I ate whatever came my way. I just started adding and adding and one day, I had to look at myself and asked what I was doing and where I was going. I used to be bigger than this. I had worked on it.

Did it affect your self esteem?

No. The only thing it affected was my career as an actress. I cannot go back on screen. I know that I cannot take this weight back to the screen unless I shed a lot of it. I have acted in a lot of movies and I know that for me to go back, I have to lose weight.

Don’t you feel bad?

In a way, I feel bad and I ask what I did to myself. But then, whether I am slim or fat, I am happy that I am producing my own movie. I am seriously working on my weight now. My producers back then now ask me if I am married and how many kids I have. People bombard me with 10 questions at the same time. So I am seriously working on it. It is just a matter of time.

What prompted you to become an actress?

It is passion. I always want to express what I feel and that is what acting is all about. I wanted to see myself on screen. I just felt I could add value to the industry. But my major focus was to become a producer and have my own production outfit. Acting was just a starting point to get to where I am now.

How easy was it for you to get your first script given the fact that so many young ladies out there also want to be actresses?

The issue of sexual harassment was there coupled with the fact that I have a fair complexion. The producers would say I looked sweet and they would just come to make advances at me. But I never gave in to any of that. I contacted a friend who knew a friend and somehow, I got my first script.

So how did the first break come?

I became a regular face in movies and soaps and somehow, my face became known and the producers got used to it.

Why don’t you use regular faces in the movies you have produced?

People wonder how I do it. I remember one of my movies, Where Talent Lies, it sold a lot but I didn’t use any celebrity in the movie and it got me four awards. Even in Issues, I didn’t use any celebrity and the series is really accepted even outside the shores of Nigeria. People are tired of all the popular faces they see in movies. People want to see new faces. If we keep recycling the old celebrities, what then happens to the younger ones who have the passion to act? It has worked for me. And through me, these unknown faces have been getting other jobs and winning awards. I write my stories and my scripts. I write reality and I make sure the stories are what people can relate to. But I have two movies to shoot this year and I would use some celebrities including O.C Ukeje and Ivie Okujaiye.

You lost your parents at 10; do you have any vague memory of them?

I still do. There is nothing like your own biological parents. But that doesn’t get me sad or depressed. My foster parents, Captain Jide George and his wife filled in the space. Right from the first time I came to Little Saints Orphanage, they were wonderful to me. They are actually my parents and that was the mentality I grew up with. I always point at them if anybody asked me about my parents. God provided them for me and I am proud to make them my parents.

How was it growing up in an orphanage?

I came to the orphanage in 2002 and I saw a lot of children, I felt I was in a strange world. I wondered what was happening. But as time went on, I started accepting them as my siblings and we did everything together. Now, they are my siblings. Growing up was interesting.

But didn’t you have aunties or uncles that could have taken care of you when your parents died?

Even when my parents were alive, I didn’t know them. I have never seen an uncle or aunt. I just knew my mum because my dad died when I was two. Even now, I am not sure they know where I am because I have never seen them before.

Could it have been your parents’ decision for you not to relate with your relatives?

I really don’t know. That is the regret I have now. I should have asked my mother why my relatives didn’t come around. But I have a family and I am okay. I am a George now.

Are there times you feel saddened by the fact that you are a foster child?

I don’t feel bad at all. Even when I was in school, I had some school mates who tried to make me feel I was an orphan. One girl in particular went about telling people I was an orphan. It was humiliating though. I wondered why she was telling people about my story. I felt bad at first but I realised that I was in a better place and I got out of the mood. I have never really felt so bad that I am a foster child.

Did the orphans get envious of one another while seeking for attention from your foster parents?

Our mum tried her best to give everybody equal attention. We had equal opportunities. We ate the same food and we went to the same school and everybody plaited the same kind of hairstyle. There was no need for envy.

Are you in a relationship at the moment?

I am not in a relationship. I just got out of one and I have not entered another one.

What happened?

There were so many issues. I wasn’t happy in the relationship. He wasn’t my ideal man. I know the qualities I look for in a guy.

So why did you go out with him in the first place?

He pretended as if he had those qualities. But when we went deeper, I realised I wouldn’t spend the rest of my life with this guy.

Don’t you feel bad that you are not in a relationship; are you not thinking of marriage?

I am actually not bothered but people are getting bothered for me. I am not that old. I am not even up to 30 yet but people are getting worried for me. I have so many things I am thinking about. I am dropping my series, Issues, in the market soon. I have some movies to film this year. I have so many things to think about and I don’t have space to think about not having a boyfriend. I am so choked up with work.

Maybe people are worried you may not get a man with your size and that men may think you are so old…

One man’s meat is another man’s poison. There are some men that don’t like slim ladies. Some men like them when they are very big. I know that I don’t like the fact that I am very big. If I am getting slim, it is not because of a man or for people not to be worried about my size so that I can hook a man. A man that comes would like me the way I am and for who I am.

What is your vision like?

I want to produce a lot of content for the African television. I hope to get wealth and I want to give back to Little Saints Orphanage. I want to give back to this orphanage that took care of me.

Do we see you establishing an orphanage one day?

It is a matter of calling. God has not ‘flashed’ me, talk less of calling me. When we get to the river, we would cross it but establishing an orphanage is not part of my plans for the future.