Beverly Naya is one of Nigeria’s most well-known actresses from Nollywood. The Wedding Party, The Wedding Party 2, Chief Daddy, Before 30, Skinny Girl in Transit, and many other popular Nollywood films include the screen diva. Beverly stands out not only for her beautiful appearance but also for her distinctive British accent.
When an actress in a Nollywood production has a British accent, it immediately stands out. Beverly Naya claims that this trait, which many Nigerians desire, has actually hindered rather than helped her in her Nollywood career.
During a new sit down interview with Chude, Beverly Naya opened up about how her accent has been a hindrance to her, and addressed the misconceptions by many that her accent is what made her blow in Nollywood. Here’s what Beverly Naya said.
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During her interview, Beverly Naya was asked “People would assume that your accent made a way for you in Nollywood. But that wasn’t the case was it?” Beverly responded saying:
BEVERLY NAYA: I wish! No, it wasn’t. If anything, it has been a hindrance. A hindrance in the sense that it limits you as far as roles go. But then outside of that cuz that’s not even the main thing for me because I’ve been fortunate enough to play really strong and amazing roles. The main thing is it intimidates people sometimes. I think now, no, because people in my industry are very much used to my accent. But in my earlier years, yeah. People found it intimidating and they were for whatever reason threatened by it, and felt like I automatically just by default felt like I was better than other people because I had a very different orientation. And that was really really hard for me. So till now, I have an alter ego and that alter ego is very razz. And do you know why that is? It’s because in my early years in the industry, I needed to have one because that was the only way people would just realize that I’m cool, that I’m chilled. That I could be playful. Because then they would realize, “no she’s not like that”. So I tried to drop it for years because that alter ego is hella razz. It’s because of that, but now it’s because part of me. Because in my early years, I just wanted people to like me. But now it’s just me.
It is so funny that the accent that so many people send their children to school to go and try and learn is what Beverly Naya is now saying has actually been a hindrance for her in her career. What do you think about what Beverly Naya had to say about her British accent