I became an actress to avoid marriage — Nse Ikpe-Etim

Nollywood actress, Nse Ikpe-Etim has opened up on how she started her career as an actress.

The seasoned thespian in an interview with Inkblot, narrated her journey into Nollywood.

Nse said: “After school I didn’t think I was going to be an actor. It wasn’t the first thing on my mind. I did it in a bid to run away from getting married early.

“I ran away from home with a backpack. It was the second time ever I had got on a bus.
“So I got on a bus and instead of going to Satellite Town, where we lived at the time, I went the other way towards Badagry, because I wanted to run away.

“Then, in some village along that road, I saw cameras. So I jumped down and that was the first time I met Kate Henshaw.
“That was 1996, when I graduated. That’s how I met Julius Agwu, Francis Agwu — all of them were on that set.

“The movie was called ‘Scars of Womanhood’ I think. But for me, it was not so much about the work. It was that I wasn’t home.

“I got down from the bus and I told them I read Theatre Arts. They said oh okay, she (Kate Henshaw) needs a friend. I met her (Kate) and we formed a bond that has lasted till tomorrow.

“Meanwhile, my mother was looking for me. I got back home after about two weeks and my mother started washing me: ‘You are going to disgrace me!’ I said ‘Ah, I don’t want to marry’.

“I didn’t tell her about the movie set. I just told her that it looks like I’m going to be an actress and she said ‘Over my dead body’.”