'I Can Never Be Any Man’s Third Wife' – Nollywood Actress, Chinenye Uyanna

Nollywood actress, Chinenye Uyanna shot to lime light with her first movie in 2012, ‘Shakara babe’. After that, the sexy actress who is among the newest pretty faces in the movie scene has been in several movies. In this interview with Ifeoma Ononye, the actress, who also runs online businesses along side her acting career, speaks about becoming a bigger star in the movie industry and why she can never act Nood or become any man’s third wife.

Before this interview, you said you studied Economics and Political Science in school, did you ever dream of working with the certificate?
Yes I studied Economics and Political Science in school. But I never saw my self working in an office.
 I have always wanted to be an actor since I was a child. Whenever we travel to the village and I’m with my cousins, we talk about what we want be in the future I always said I want to be an actor.

How did your parents react to your decision not to take any 9 to 5 job?
At the beginning I didn’t know to tell my dad but later on I told him. He’s okay with my chosen career. My mum has no issues.

Tell us about your first time on a movie set. Were you nervous?
I was very shy because I saw a lot of super stars.

Looking back, what is the most challenging movie you have done?
The most challenging movie so far is ‘House 6’. It was a television series and that was my first series. It was challenging because it was also done in Igbo.

So we shot the English part first and then the Igbo part followed. It was really stressful because it took longer than what was budgeted. Shooting the same thing twice in different languages.

How did you improvise during the COVID- 19 lockdown?
During this pandemic I dived into tiktok videos a lot because I wanted people to know more about me and that I can act different characters. I mean, I did a lot of comedy skits. I wanted the world to see a different me. And also I wrote a script.

Now that the lockdown is eased a bit, what’s next for you?
For me I will still be indoors for now let’s see how it goes. I can’t lie to you I really want to work but safety first.

As a single lady, what did you miss mostly this lockdown?
I didn’t miss much. Only some food I was craving for. I’m an indoor person. So it was like my normal everyday life.

You didn’t miss your boyfriend at all?
Hilarious but that is a story for another day.

There is a rumour that you recently sufferred a heartbreak, is it true?
Nobody can break my heart. It’s unbreakable. I am a woman of steel.

When the time for marriage comes, what is your picture of a perfect husband for you?
Husband material. I want a God fearing man because anybody who respects God will always know the right thing to do.

And then a caring and truthful man that’s all. He must also be a hardworking man. Just look okay and I’m good.

Tribe doesn’t matter as long as the man loves and cares for me I don’t mind where he is from. We are one Nigeria.


What if he loves you and wants you to be his third wife?
That’s not possible.

Check me out, do I look like a third wife material? Not even for all the money in the world. I’m a total package so, its either I am the number one or nothing.

Do you plan to go into movie production?
Off course. I intend to grow to the highest level in this career I have even produced for someone before but at the end credit, I didn’t use my name.

Have you ever considered marrying an actor?If no, why not?
Because we two can’t leave the house at the same time. You know movie jobs takes you round so I need a man doing something different so we can meet half way. Not when I’m home my hubby won’t be around because of one shoot or the other.

What would you say is your best achievement as an actress?
My best achievement in life is actualising my goal in life as an actor. As an actor when people recognize my work, I feel so happy.

Do you keep celebrity friends in your industry?
I have my people. If I start mentioning names some will get angry if I don’t mention them. So let me leave it.

In this acting career, will you be willing to act Nood?
I can never act Nood. In some movie scenes, when I am lying on bed with a man, I still have my clothes on under the covers. But there was a particular movie I did, and when I got to a certain scene, the producer asked me to remove my clothes before going under the covers with a man. We were just shouting at each other, we spent over three hours arguing about it. This is Africa and I want to get married and have children.

What will it look like, for my children to grow up and see me acting Nood? What will I tell them?