MTV Suga Star, Jemima Osunade Gives a Rundown of her Acting Career

Jemima Osunade started acting in uncertainty.

Fast rising Nollywood actress, Jemima Osunade is one whose story would inspire young ones to discover their real selves.

Moving from being a fresher, studying Physiotherapy, to landing major roles in the movie industry is one rare story that is Jemima’s.

In this interview with The Sun Newspaper, the actress speaks on her journey so far and her plans for the future.

Excerpts below;

When did you start acting?

I started acting about three and a half years ago.

What was your first film project? 

My first project was ‘Jungle Jewel’, a movie produced by Ufuoma McDermott. The movie is about human trafficking. That was the first thing I ever did, after that, I went to audition for Tinsel.

You always had a knack for acting?

I won’t say acting; I just knew that, apart from being science-inclined, there was another side to me. And I was doing a lot of things to figure out what it was, and so going for that audition (Tinsel) was one of it. I got on set, we shot the movie (Jungle Jewel), and even after shooting it, I still didn’t think I was going to pass as an actor, and then it got an AMVCA nomination and that was it for me.  Ufuoma called me and said, ‘our movie got nominated at the AMVCA; they watched it and they liked it. Even I liked it’. She liked it and then she said, ‘you should actually think of doing this big time’. My uncle who was a presenter also mentioned it to me, he was like ‘why not try something in entertainment, maybe acting, you talk a lot, maybe you can be a presenter. Just try something’.

What were your feelings on set for the first time? 

Even after shooting the movie, while on set I didn’t think I could pass for an actor.  I kept having self-doubt. I was like, ‘let me do this thing and get out of here and see what happens’, I was nervous, I was confused, I wasn’t very sure of myself, kept questioning what I was doing. Well, to the glory of God, I didn’t mess up. 

Playing the role of Laila on MTV Shuga, does it have any relatable instances to you in real life especially considering the fact that you had just left secondary school not quite long at the time?

Yes, Laila was supposed to be in her final year in secondary school and I was just finishing the first year in the university, so we were pretty still close, and it was easy for me to go back into my zone of a 16-year-old. It was quite easy; I pretty look like a 16-year-old up till now. So, it was pretty easy for me to bring out the 16-year-old in myself and play the girl who is in love. That was also relatable because of the conditions I was in when we shot that, so that was kind of relatable.

Which would you say was more tasking between the role you played in ‘Jungle Jewel’ and ‘Shuga’?

The role I played in my first movie, ‘Jungle Jewel’. I was a character living in abject poverty with her mother, and then her mom got frustrated to a point where she got an offer from a random woman she didn’t know to send her child abroad. She did all these because she thought she was going to get an education. Meanwhile, this person was sending her there for child trafficking, sexual slavery.

So that means you don’t have a boyfriend?

I do not. I’m not in a relationship. I am very single.

Which would you go for, acting or physiotherapy?

To be very honest, before I used to say that I would find a way to do both. I used to say I would find a way to make both works out, but at this point I’ve gotten to and literally about to graduate, it’s looking more like I will stick to acting for a while, and then maybe in a couple of years try to do one or two things in my medical practice.