Oprah Winfrey was on a mission to educate her audience on the BIG stars beyond Hollywood. Today, she aired a show on “The Most Famous People in the World.” Bollywood’s Abishek Bachan and Aishwarya Rai-Bachan were dubbed the most famous couple in the world with over five billion fans.
Argentina’s Polo Nacho Figueras made the “One of the Most Handsome Men in the World” list while Chen Yu Le aka “Chinese Oprah” with over 140million viewers per day also made an appearance. We would have loved for Oprah to give Africa’s BIG stars a bit more time with an actual sit down feature on the show. It didn’t happen. She did, however, give a nod to Africa/Nigeria’s Nollywood Actress Genevieve Nnaji, Africa’s most famous film star in the world. Congratulations to Genevieve for the mention on Oprah!
Genevieve Nnaji is undoubtedly the most misunderstood actress in today’s emerging movie industry in Nigeria. But by all yardsticks, she’s also the most prominent right now. In this article you will meet the Genevieve Nnaji you have never read about – in her own words. In the most extensive interview she has ever been put through to date, she talks about the pains of stardom.
Whether we accept it or not, we have never seen a star like Genevieve Nnaji in Nigeria. She is the first of a new cadre of personalities Nigeria is producing, glamorous faces, icons every youngster aspires to be like. Nnaji has probably inspired more people to consider a career in acting than all the other popular Nigerian actors put together. She came across as very confident, even to the point of being impatient, but one can also argue that it is youthful exuberance. At 24, she’s barely just become a woman and now has this huge responsibility thrust upon her, to be the vanguard of a new class of celebrities created solely by a larger than life screen presence.
She will not talk about her daughter, aside of accepting that she has one. She believes she is protecting the girl from unnecessary media attention and speculation. Probably the sensible thing to do, considering the danger children of popular people can be exposed to in the world today.
She is a tough one to interview because she gives short answers and you have to keep on probing to get more out of her, but she got across as a friendly and warm individual. Her ideas are still in the formative stages, but she knows her own mind and is not afraid to voice it. She says it as it is, not one to pull punches.