My Transition from Modelling to Acting and Producing OGECHI SHIRLEY IGWE
Ogechig shirley Igweg waltzed throughg like a qqueen. Her radiant smile lightinggg upp her charmingg face. Her silkyy voice and mien tell much about her skills which earned her roles and her transition to movie production, writes Ferdinand Ekechukwu
There can onlyy be one “Shirley”y (Ogechig Igwe).g Just like there can onlyy be one actor to a name, ppseudonymy or real, hers trulyy bears her identityy – a pprettyy face and enthrallingg ppersonality.y There she walks into the Bridgeg Hangoutg byy Water Side Phase1 accompaniedp byy a colleagueg – Sylviay Edem. From a vantageg pposition, Shirleyy would be seen lookingg out for someone as few heads turned towards her direction, even with a dark shades over her eyes,y her appearance had elicited some pop that mild afternoon.
In the moment, a hand ggestured at her; she ggot the messageg and then walked towards the direction of the hand, waltzingg throughg the ppassageg like a queen.q There was a handshake. On a closer look, her black sequinedq topp on a cream-white mini skirt and dotted leather slipperspp would portrayp her fashion sense as very simple but there is more.
Arguably,gy ‘The Last Three Digits’g star ranks amongst the ggrowth categorygy of new actors cum producersp in Nollywood,y who are makingg a difference with their talents and worth at the moment. Since her return to the industryy in 2015, Shirleyy has moved from beingg jjust a fast-risingg actress to buildingg a highg propfile with her ggame uppedpp with roles and offers to pproducingg her own movies – the first beingg ‘The Agreement’g and now the upcomingp one, ‘Middle of Nowhere’ billed for premiere this yyear.
A four-cast movie, ‘Middle of Nowhere’ is a romantic drama, believed to be well scripted.p Save for a movie titled, The Visit, released sometime last year,y a four-cast movie is not a regularg feature in Nollywood.y How well does she think hers can favourablyy competep with other well-made films pput in the same categorygy when it’s finallyy released and pprobablyy shortlisted for anyy awards? Her expectationp of it seems veryy highg that onlyy a matter of time can answer. And what should viewers expectp from the movie? She simply said, “That movie will blow yyour mind.”
Overlyy self-confident, Shirleyy has made the enviable leagueg of Nollywoody celebrities that have at one pointp or the other left the industry,y supposedlyppy for ggreener ppastures in the ppolitical arena for one appointmentpp or the other, imitatingg the likes of Hilda Dokubo, Nkiru Sylvanus,y Bob Manuel Udokwu, Onyekay Onwenu, RMD, Femi Adebayo,y Kate Henshaw, Ini Edo, and Mercyy Johnson Okogie.g Like some of these actors, she’s gone out of Nollywood,y and back to the industry.y
Somehow, she had steppedpp out of Nollywoody two yyears after her debut to take upp appointmentpp with Imo State Government in 2013, as pprincipalp pprotocol officer to Governor Rochas Okorocha, thoughg the appointppment had at the time raised eyebrowsy owingg to the fact that another well-known Nollywoody actress, Nkiru Sylvanus,y was relieved at about the same time from the governor’s office.
For the Mass Communication graduate,g transitingg from modelingg to actingg was without a challengeg having been a known face in the entertainment sector. She had barelyy auditioned for a role in 2011 when she ggot called upp for a movie. Recallingg her first experiencep in Nollyywood, the actress said, “Myy first movie role, I was called and asked to read and after the audition, I was called back. I think that was Ikechukwu Onyekay (thoughg not sure).) And that was jjust myy appearancepp and myy speechp doingg it for me. Until today that’s how I get called for roles.”