By Christy Anyanwu
Carol King could be described as the queen of soap operas. She has featured in many television series, including Edge of Paradise, I Need to Know, Everyday People, and lots more.
The veteran actress was one of the celebrities at the recent event to announce the 20th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) in Lagos.
In this interview with Sunday Sun, she spoke about life as an actress and went down memory lane to talk about her inspiraions in the industry.
What’s the secret of your staying power, you have been in the industry for long yet you haven’t changed in physique and style?
Thank you for the compliments. The secret is God first and, secondly, I try to eat healthy. I try to work out as well. Like I said, I have good genes. If you see my mum, she is 87 and you won’t believe it. She’s very alive.
How do you cope with stardom? Do you still go to the market or do normal things like average people?
Oh, yes, I do. It is just that it can be one kind, because you know how we are: once they see you, they expect that you are making so many millions, which is not the case. So, what they would normally sell for a naira would become N100 and I think other famous people out there face the same thing, but it’s kind of more difficult when people see you on the TV and you are a known face. I still go to the market. I have to buy my things myself and see it with my own eyes and touch it with my hands.
What lessons have you learnt about life?
You know, funny enough, I was just thinking about that. I heard a word this morning and I talked to myself. It was about Naaman in the Bible. He was a general, but the Bible says he was leprous. And how did he get his healing? It was a maid, one of his wife’s maids, that said, I know a prophet in so, so place, and when he got to the prophet’s place, it was also one of his workers who said to him, go bath in this river that this guy said you should go and bath in and don’t be proud about it. So, what did that teach me? If he didn’t have a good relationship with those who were beneath him, you could imagine, a general, he wouldn’t have had his healing. That is one thing that my mum always taught us because she gathered people’s children, along with my father, till I grew up even till now she still does that. Just be good to people, be kind to people. You never know who God is going to use for you. Just show love. That is the primary thing for me.
What’s your kind of dress as an actress?
I like to dress simply. You know, you get to an age where there are things you want to hide. So, I like to wear flowing things and being simple and classy.
If there is reincarnation, would you want to be an actor in your next life?
I know the Bible says after death there is only judgment. So, there is nothing like reincarnation in my diary. I don’t believe in that.
Do you regret being an actress or…?
I don’t. I’m doing what I had always wanted to do. Funny enough, my dad wanted me to be a lawyer and I struggled to be one for him, but at the end of the day this is where my passion is. I would do this even if I wasn’t paid for it. This is what I had always wanted to do and I’m doing it perfectly. Right from childhood, right from when I was little, I have always been a performer.
Who did you look up to in the industry as a young actor, or even now?
Strangely enough, my heroines and heros in the entertainment industry, sorry to say, were not Africans because we grew up in an era where it was Western films that we watched. So, I looked up to Med Raya, Angela Basset, Whoopi Goldberg, people in that category, so many of them. We had Charles Bronzing in my time because I’m over 60 years old, I’m not a child. Those were the people I looked up to, those were the people I watched on the TV, and I was like: I can do this, I want to do this. And I am doing it now.
If you really want something to change in Nollywood what would that be?
There have been many improvements over time, so I think we are headed in the right direction. I am happy about that. You see, all the young stars that have come up, they are hungry, they’re thirsty and they are doing it the way it should be done. So, I am really happy with the direction they are heading. I think, there’s only one path that I’m not too comfortable with, too much daring. We are starting to copy the Western world. We don’t show people having sex, those kinds of things are foreign to us as Africans. There are many ways of showing those things without baring our skin. That is the only off point for me, but every other thing, they’re going forward.