The difficulty with becoming an actor is that occasionally, one must take on roles that are too closely related to what one has already experienced in personal life. Sometimes it might be really difficult to work on set if the object is very dark.
In an interview with The Sun, Nollywood actress Sandra Okunzuwa discussed the difficulties of filming “Enitan,” her own experiences with men, and the incident that caused her to initially hate men. “Enitan” is a new film that tells the tale of sexual abuse. Here are Sandra Okunzuwa’s words.
Speaking about the movie “Enitan” and how hard it was for her, Sandra said:
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SANDRA OKUNZUWA: Enitan is a story of a young married woman who doesn’t get sexual satisfaction from her husband alone. She goes out every night to look for ‘Area Boys’ to gang rape her for her to feel satisfied sexually. This continues until her husband catches her, and the story begins to unveil. I got the inspiration way back from the law school when our lecturer took us on a rape and mental health topic, and the trauma that goes with the act. The character went through a lot physically, mentally and sexually. It was a challenging role for me. In the process of filming the character, I had to work with real ‘Area Boys’ and it wasn’t easy. I had to put myself completely in Enitan’s shoes. I had to visit different spiritualists for cleansing. The bathing at the beach while filming was one of the most challenging parts, because I kept on praying and praying. My colleagues gathered and prayed for me. I prayed, talked to close friends about it. I kept reminding myself that it’s a movie [not real life].
Speaking about her own personal experiences with the subject matter, Sandra said:
SANDRA OKUNZUWA: Sexually abused as a kid? Yes. Mental health victim? Yes. In the society we live in, people don’t talk about mental health issues; they expect you to visit your pastor and you will be alright. As an actor, it is not easy. First, you will have to embody the life of different characters and personalities, the good, the bad and the terrible. Despite what you are going through personally, you have to wear a smile and keep entertaining people because that is what people expect from you. I think there should be a special therapist for entertainers, because it is not easy. Giving out joy to people and lacking where to fill up from. Most people are broken; they’re carrying about baggage from the past, if you don’t talk about it so you can get help, you will keep carrying it about until it destroys you. By sharing your problems with your partner, you can get help. Lastly, being traumatized isn’t a spiritual issue; it is a mental issue that needs a therapist. I will get married to my perfect partner someday. Before, it (the sexual abuse) kind of made me resent men, but I have healed from it and moved on. I am a lot better now.
It is so sad that almost every woman over the age of 21 has experienced some form of sexual abuse or assault at some point in their life. Na Wa! I’m happy Sandra finally got to find the help she needed, playing a character like that could not have been easy for her.