Why I chose to appear in ALTER EGO – Omotola Jalade Ekeinde

Yesterday, the press was introduced to the much talked about movie, ALTER EGO, a Moses Iwang movie. The movie stars Omotola Jalade Ekeinde in the lead female character Ada Igwe, a respected and successful lawyer haunted by her own demons. Ada Igwe was a victim of a traumatic childhood who suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), incidentally, a mental illness that has received nonexistence attention in our society. She was a defender of the underdog and goes extra miles to see that justice is bought and offenders punished for their crimes irrespective of their standing in the society.

On why she took on the role?

The A-lister talked about the need to bring awareness to PTSD (sometimes called depression). Omotola who had taken a hiatus from acting elaborated further. “A lot of people suffer from the disorder and there is no support provided for them. People will just tell you to cheer up and that’s it, we need to raise awareness about the existence of the disorder”

Speaking further on the lessons from the movie, the star urged parents “To listen to their kids and to understand what is going on in their lives.” According to the actress, not doing so can lead to unpleasant circumstances which could haunt them for life. For instance, it was Ada Igwe growing up experience that “Formed the fabrics of her character.”

Asked to comment on her self-imposed absence from Nollywood, the actress replied that she needed to get away as “I was becoming creatively stifled. It gets to a point and you feel like there’s nothing challenging you and then you start to feel like your standard is dropping.” She also added that her time away enabled her to reset, and also, provided an opportunity to build her own business.

She added that she had foreseen Nollywood move towards cinema screenings and that she was ready for that transition. Her return to Nollywood, however, was not an easy decision as she wanted something challenging and worthwhile, like the 1996 movie “Mortal Inheritance” in which she featured. She wanted “Something that would bring that same value in entertainment and message – Alter Ego did it for me and I knew that was the project I needed to take,”

Alter Ego also stars Wale Ojo, Jide Kosoko, Victor Olaotan, Sexy Steel, Kunle Remi, Elvina Ibru, Bobby Obodo, Gregory Ojefua and Abbey Abuede. The movie premieres on July 7 at FilmOne Imax Lekki. It will be showing in cinemas nationwide from July 21.