Actress Genevieve Nnaji opens, says Hollywood made her feel like a ‘commodity’

Talented Nollywood actress Genevieve Nnaji has opened up on how her first produced movie titled ‘LionHeart’ made her a ‘commodity’ in the American movie industry dubbed Hollywood.

The experienced thespian who shared her story as a panel member at the 2024 AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum/Afreximbank Annual Meetings said that she didn’t find the type of support she needed in Hollywood to do more at the time.

Genevieve stated that given what she had done with ‘LionHeart’ she felt that she was going to have an opportunity to do more in the US but that was not the case.

“For the first time, I realised I was a commodity. I thought, you know, given what I had done with Lionheart, and all of that, I was going to have an opportunity to do more. Getting there and having the kind of support, that obviously CANEX is bringing on board, but I thought I could find it in Hollywood. That was not quite the case,” she said.

READ ALSO:Actress, Genevieve Nnaji, makes first public appearance months after alleged mental breakdown (Photos)

“They wanted what I had but for their benefit. It was all about their story. It was all about how, even if it was our story, I could make it more authentic to their own understanding of whatever Africa is because they did have a lot of literature in their archives.”

Genevieve also added during the panel discussion that she had the option to move to Hollywood years ago but chose to stay behind to support Nollywood’s growth.

“But I am Nollywood. I could have gone to Hollywood a long time if I wanted to. But I had a dream to build an industry in Nigeria that could rival it. That’s because I’ve always believed in that.

”I have always believed that we were capable of actually owning an industry like that, that told our story for our people. I wanted that. I respect what Hollywood is doing. I respect what Bollywood is doing and I felt like Nollywood had an equal chance at it,” she said.

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