NIGERIAN CINEMA is Africa’s largest movie industry in terms of the value of the movie industry and the number of movies produced per year. Although Nigerian films have been produced since the 1960s, the rise of affordable digital filming and editing technologies has stimulated the country’s video film industry. Yet, the true power of Nollywood movies come from its pool of talented casts. Naija actors will fool you into believing on their roles and forgetting that it’s all just acting; they’re just that good.
On this article, we capture the Five Most Popular and beautiful Young Nigerian actresses that can truly be associated to the success of Nollywood. It was not an easy task, coming up with just five names, especially when most of the ladies are very talented and dedicated on their work. Nevertheless, we believe you will agree with us that this list contains at least the top three Most popular names in Nollywood. You know them by their acting names and roles, we invite you to know them by their real experience and lives through this short biographies. Enjoy!
GENEVIEVE NNAJI
Born on May 3 1979, Genevieve Nnaji grew up in Lagos the commercial capital of Nigeria. The fourth of eight children, she was brought up in a middle class environment. Her father worked as an engineer and her mother as a teacher. Nnaji started her acting career as a child actress in the then popular television soap opera Ripples at the age of 8. She also featured in several commercials some of which include Pronto beverage and Omo detergent. In 2004 she became the face of Lux soap in a highly lucrative sponsorship deal.
In 1998 at the age of 19 she was introduced into the growing Nigerian film industry with the movie “Most Wanted”. Her subsequent movies include Last Party, Mark of the Beast and Ijele. She has starred in over 80 Nollywood movies.
In 2002 she featured in the movie ‘Sharon Stone’ and her fame shot beyond the shores of Nigeria to Africa and several European countries. One can say the ‘buzz’ Genevieve reinvented the Nigerian Film Industry, introducing Nollywood.
Nnaji has received several awards and nominations for her work, including the Best Actress of the year award at the 2001 City People Awards and the Best Actress in a Leading Role award at the 2005 African Movie Academy Awards.
In 2004 she signed a recording contract with EKB Records, a Ghanaian record label, and released her debut album One Logologo Line, a mix of R&B, Hip-Hop and Urban music. 2008 saw Nnaji launching a clothing line, “St. Genevieve”, which donates a percentage of its proceeds to charity.Genevieve Nnaji is one of the best paid actresses in Nollywood.
Her life personifies the saying “All things are possible if you will only believe.”
These words describe her: Determined, Focused, Humble and Creative. The best years of her career are still ahead.
OMOTOLA JALADE EKEINDE
Omotola was born in a family of five to Mr. & Mrs. Shola Jalade (both late) and two brothers, Tayo and Bolaji Jalade.
Her first role in a movie came in the film “Venom of Justice”(1995).
Omotola Ekeinde burst into the Nollywood film industry with the movie “Mortal Inheritance” (1995) where she played a sickle-cell patient who fights for her life even when she knows she might not be able to live. At the end of the day, she has a baby and eventually lives. This film which received good reviews, won her awards for her role in the movie and is still known as one of Nigeria’s best movies ever made.
Ever since then she has not looked back and she has starred in blockbuster movies like “Games Women Play”, “Blood Sisters”, “All my life”, “Last Wedding”,My Story, The Woman in Meand a host of others. In the year 2005, she launched her music career.
She got married to Capt. Matthew Ekeinde on the 23rd, March 1996, then later had a beautiful white wedding on board a DASH 7 Aircraft flying from Lagos to Benin, on the 19th April, 2001. Besides acting, she also sings, writes and does a bit of charity work.
DAKORE EGBUSON
Born on October 14, 1978, Dakore Egbuson is one of the top glamorous stars in Nollywood, who has shined since the year 2000. This beautiful star, who is the first child of five, attended Corona Primary School. Upon graduation , she attended A-Z Secondary School, and later attended Government Girl’s College. She then went on to further her educational career at UNILAG where she studied Mass Communications.
Dakore played her first role in a soap opera on AIT, which never aired. Isong,the home video industry screenplay writer and producer who discovered her a lead role in the movie Silent Tears in the year 2000. She then starred lead roles in Playboy, Tentacles and She-Devil. From there, she flew to London and settled where she pursued her acting career. She presented on BEN TV and Soul Sister, her own show. She also started to pursue a career in music- jazz and soul, in which she performed in Queen Elizabeth Hall.
INI EDO
Ini Edo was born on April 19, 1982. She began her film career in the year 2000, and has featured in more than 50 movies since that time. Edo is a Theatre Arts graduate of the University of Calabar.It was the movie, Thick Madam, that first launched Ini Edo into the motion picture industry in 2003. Since then, Edo has featured in many movies, although she sees her role in Worlds Apart as the most challenging.
Pretty, young and highly talented, the 23-year old Theatre Arts undergraduate of the University of Uyo nurtured her acting career as a dramatist in her church. Today, Edo is one of the most sought after actresses in Nollywood.
STEPHANIE OKEREKE
Stephanie Okereke is the sixth child of eight children. She completed her primary & secondary school in Delta State before heading to the University of Calabar, where she graduated with a degree in English and Literary Studies. She is a Nigerian actress, film director and model. She has received several awards and nominations for her work as an actress, including the 2003 Reel Award for Best Actress, the 2006 Afro Hollywood Award for Best Actress, and two nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the African Movie Academy Awards in 2005 and 2009. Okereke has starred in over 90 movies.
Okereke was married to a former Super Eagles football player in August 2004. Their marriage was officially dissolved in January 2007. In April 2005, on her way to the African Movie Academy Awards held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria, Okereke was involved in a serious car accident that left her with burns all over and a broken leg. She recovered speedily from the accident and went back to acting.
