Nollywood pretty actress and producer , Matilda Lambert is a native of Ngo-Town, Andoni local government area of Rivers State. The graduate of Philosophy is currently running her Masters Degree in UNN. In this exclusive interview with ANTHONY ADA ABRAHAM in Abuja , she speaks on her passion for the movie industry, her latest and first ever movie production ‘Deepest Cut’ and other sundry issues.
You have acted with a lot of people in the industry. Have you ever felt intimidated by some of the big names you come in contact with prior to when you became a star?
No! I won’t say I have been intimidated, I will only say wow! Within me, the first time I was on set with Mike Ezerounye and I was to play his girlfriend you know, like on the bed with him and all of that, he has this of intimidating look and just looking at you for you to just… but you know somehow he had to put me through and I got used to it. And it wasn’t even feeling as if I was playing with a mega super star and all so, it was nice. I wasn’t intimidated I was rather excited doing that at that time
Can you give us an insight of the challenges you have really encounter during your time as an actor?
One of the challenges I face sometimes is misconception. For instance, if you are given a script, to play a certain character, and especially if it’s something you haven’t done in real life something that is totally different from your character, catapulting into a different character entirely and I am trying to convince people that that’s not really my character let say for example, there are some roles you play let’s say you are acting the role of a prostitute and probably you did it so well that people start saying ‘Na so she dey for real life’ or maybe betrayals you know those kind of things. There are some characters that are very significant and then people begin to look at you from that aspect and to me, I think that is one of the challenges because it’s kind of trying to convince people that look this is just a script I am doing, of course it’s only those in the industry that really understand that you are only acting what you are asked to do. But people out there they judge you from what they see you do on TV and all of that.
Could you give us an insight to what really gave you that aspiration to start up your production?
Overtime, I have watched lot of Nollywood movies, I have also read scripts, and I have gathered a lot of experiences from here and there. But one day, I sat down and thought to myself if it’s not love story they are doing, it’s one epic story that has to do with one grandfather or ancestor that are dead. There are some things that are very relevant; there are some issues that are pressing in the country as it is. So why don’t you just put ideas together and make this film to really show he effects of crime and violence’s of wars, Boko Haram, and so that how I got the idea.
Was it stressful bringing out these A-listers to come and star in this movie?
To be honest, it was something else, it was a great experience, it was stressful, but like they say anything worth doing is worth doing well. So I practiced with my first, and so I thought I should bring in the best of the best. You know the best hands to do this for me and I didn’t really find it difficult working with them because they are professionals. They have been into this and they know what it is for a young lady to come up and say I want to shoot this movie, and so some of them were very supportive from the beginning giving advice and they are still supportive. But you know as it is, it’s not easy to control adult because sometimes maybe, you might want to shout on one A-list actor and then when you look at him you will be this person is old enough to be my father let me respect myself so you wouldn’t want to shout at minor thing that they do that you know ordinarily you would have screamed at but you would want to control yourself. Like I said, I enjoyed every bit of it because I didn’t have too much headache working with them like using the up comers. But they were down to help. I really liked that aspect of it because they really made me feel what you are doing is really worth it and we appreciate you and we love the fact that you brought us into the movie. Of course so much money because you have to fly in some of them from Ghana putting everybody in a good hotel, the crew members, all the actors we thank God.
Let’s talk about the movie itself, were you the one that wrote the script?
No! I didn’t write the scripts but I gave 70% of the script like the idea of what I wanted.
How did you come about the location because I found out that some of the scenes were in Abuja?
But the location itself is in Abuja, I shot the film in Abuja, everything in Abuja. But each new scene has its own location.
You talked about wanting to depict urrent affairs issue, is it the reason why you shot the movie in Abuja or you just found out that the scene in Abuja would cover up for it?
No! I live in Abuja, whenever you want to do your film, I think it’s better to do it in an environment you are comfortable and familiar with. So I live here and this is my first and I think this is best. To start from home, they say charity begins at home. In Nigeria most of the places doesn’t have IDP camps and IDP camps was one of my main locations, and it’s in Abuja so it helped. Most of the locations are here, it made everything easy, though it wasn’t really easy going from one location to the other because of distance from each other but we thank God.
What should people be expecting from this movie …like your fans and those people who have been following you right from the outset, what should they be expecting from this movie because this movie is not like the usual movie you have acted?
Well they should be expectingsomething different from ‘Deepest Cut’. They should just be expecting another turn, another side of the matter by Lambert they’ve always known. Like I said this is something very different because I try to put in my best in it to make sure I interpret the part, to interpret the role very well. It’s a movie that you will definitely like. It a movie for everybody from the youngest to the eldest it’s not restricted because going to the IDP camp you find out that it’s a different world entirely and I felt like crying all throughout the shoot.
What was the motivating factor for the movie?
Yes! They will always say children are the leaders of tomorrow and all that . Whatever you are doing I feel it’s good to start with the kids, the environment were a child grows up matters a lot because it either contribute to building the child or destroy the child. For instance, when the child is growing up ,seeing is parent killed at a very young age , creates a lasting trauma while he tries to revenge to give it back to the society in a bad way trying to revenge and take laws into his own hands by fighting back because of the experience he had. And sure if there was no crisis and his parents were not killed in such an environment, the case would have been different.
When is the movie coming out?
By God grace before the end of May the movie will be out.
When are you premiering the movie?
Yes I am actually doing a private screening in Port Harcourt and Abuja. Port Harcourt is going to be on the 13th of March and in Abuja is going to be on the 13th of April which happens to be my birthday.
Your colleagues have been complaining that since inception of this administration, there haven’t been any support for the industry, what will be your advice to the president and also to those who are in authority that will support people? And did you self-sponsor the movie?
I self-sponsor the movie, I did everything myself but I know by God’s grace I will reap the fruit. in every society, entertainment contributes to the growth of the society for example in Nigeria, Nollywood, is an industry that even outside the shores of Nigeria people appreciate it, people loved to watch our movie and this actually is a way of dissecting the economy. Government and those in authority should please come into the industry, it’s not just for entertainer alone but for all Nigerian, for Africa, it for the world at large. Nollywood needs you, the entertainment industry needs the government support in whichever way they can because trust me, the producers and the director and actors are trying to self-sponsor their movies and all of that. If the government comes in fully to help, it will also boost the economy and then also the growth of the society.
Is there any message to your fans?
To my fans, I love you all