If you do not know Stella Damasus Aboderin, please turn to the next page because you cannot appreciate why we did all we could to interview the young lady who enjoys acclaim as one of the best contemporary actors in Nigeria today.
Getting her to consent to an interview was an onerous task. Do not blame Stella. She is not snobbish or proud. She has had the bashing of her life from a cross section of the print media, our so called society journals. The name Financial Standard made it easy for her to consent.
Still, she wondered aloud why we wanted to interview her. Is it to hear her out on rumours and negative reports making the rounds before and after the unfortunate death of her husband and confidante, Jaiye Aboderin? We had to assure her that we are not interested in the intrigues surrounding her private life. Really, we were not. Stella showed good faith and we scheduled the interview for last Saturday.
The interview scheduled for mid-day was scuttled by monthly sanitation exercise and Stella’s overcrowded schedule. We found her itinerary unbelievable. Many people will find it so. She moves at a fast pace like the guys making all the big money on Marina, Lagos- even though she was supposed to be a showbiz personality. In her line of business, practitioners usually have nothing more than their personality, acclaim and money earned from it. We dare say Stella is different. Innovative and daring, she forayed beyond acting. Her professional interests cuts across events management, production and the textile industry.
We tracked youthful Stella who is in her late 20s to the Soul Lounge at The Palms, where her band had a gig. She came in from choir rehearsals for her band’s performance at the Soul Lounge and she did not leave until the early hours. Could we afford a reschedule? No, we simply took advantage of technology and conducted the interview online.
A Nollywood best
Stella Damasus Aboderin is one of the most acclaimed thespians in the country today. But her sojourn in acting has not been without its low end. She was among the crop of elite actors banned by the merchant producers of Idumota, who control the country’s burgeoning motion picture industry. Banned in July 2004, alongside Richard Mofe-Damijo, Sam Dede, Jim Iyke, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde and Genevieve Nnaji, Stella had her ban lifted by the Idumota mafia because of the sad death of her hubby.
Stella’s rating by lovers of locally produced home videos has always been favourable. Though young and in her late twenties, she seems to have been around for so long. May be, we think so, because she told us she will celebrate her 10th anniversary as a thespian soonest.
The celebration will be one of the few worthy ones (true celebration of a thespian). Many of her fans could swear an oath that she has never been part of any shoddy production, even by Nollywood standard. Shunning poor scripts is a challenge for thespians in Nollywood, since much value is not placed on quality, but that is not our Stella’s own challenge. It is about shunning tasteless scripts.
Hear her: “when producers bring scripts to me and they want me to play the role of a prostitute. I know the society I come from. I turn down such scripts. I have it at the back of my mind that I am a married woman and my family is more important than my work.”
The acclaimed actress’ most celebrated outing in the recent is the movie titled Widows. Produced by ace filmmaker, Kingsley Ogoro of the Osuofia in London fame, the film is about the debasing and dangerous treatment accorded widows in Nigeria , in the name of tradition. A recent widow herself, Stella played the lead role, fuelling insinuations in certain quarters that Widows is the screen adaptation of her travails which was an open secret.
However, all Stella volunteered to say is that Widows is Kingsley Ogoro production and she featured in it as an actress and as a celebrated widow. “Widows are labeled and we have all sorts of nasty stories are told us,” she informs.
A multi-faceted career
Stella is a successful actress and more. She is a musician, dancer, compere, events consultant and fashion designer. Music, according to her, is her first call.
Truly so, she has had very successful outings in her ‘understated’ career in music. She did the soundtrack of the movie, Missing Angel and also featured in Blakky’s gospel hit track, Praise Him.
Together with her late multitalented husband, Stella formed the now defunct Synergy Band. The band released an album which earned it continental acclaim as a Kora Award finalist before Jaiye’s untimely death.
However, the Synergy Band dream did not die. It rather metamorphosed into the Gig Factor Band after Jaiye’s death. Also, Stella sits atop the Gig Factor Entertainment Consultants, a part of the defunct Synergy Group, which specializes in sound reinforcement, stage designs, lightings and Audio/visual productions.
Imbued with creativity and the rare ability to juggle multiple tasks, Stella the master compere and dancer, also runs a wedding planning outfit called Angels & Bells and her exclusive African boutique, Mon Afrik, will debut on the fashion scene soonest. Mon Afrik will market strictly African fabrics and designs.
Background
Though, she is from Asaba in Delta State , Stella Damasus Aboderin grew up in Benin where she had early education. She had a stint in theatre arts and business and industrial law, respectively at the University of Benin and University of Lagos . Stella later traveled to Ghana to study linguistics for a year, before bagging a degree in theatre arts from the University of Lagos.
Stella, whose screen credit include Real love, Queen of the rain Forest, Romantic Attraction, Intruder and Breaking Point, has awards such as the Best Actress- Real Awards in 2000, Delta State Awards for distinguished actress (2006), and the year’s Igbo Women’s leadership Awards (2006) in her kitty. She also featured prominently in stage productions that include Obaseki, Asagidi, Oliver Twist and Private Lies performed recently in Bonny, River States for Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company, NLNG.
The mother of two lovely daughters, Isabel Ayomide and Angelica Oluwatoni Aboderin, Stella is giving serious thought to philanthropy because she really hates to see people live in poverty.
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