Popular Nollywood actress, Stella Damasus has opened up about the challenges she faces in securing movie roles in Hollywood.
In a recent interview, the screen star, who is currently based in the United States, candidly revealed the reasons behind her limited opportunities in the American film industry. She also shed light on why it’s generally difficult for Nigerian actors to break into Hollywood.
According to Damasus, despite her years of experience and talent, she has faced significant barriers, including accent bias, limited representation, and industry gatekeeping, which often favour actors with specific backgrounds or networks.
She said; “Hollywood filmmakers insist that there is a particular accent that Africans who want to act in their industry must have. So, that’s why they forced our people to put it on…”
“I’m like, we [Nigerians] don’t sound like that, maybe one or two small countries in East Africa. I’m Nigerian, they are Ghanaians. We are different people and we all sound different. We [Nigerians] don’t sound like this. That’s what Hollywood wants. That’s what they are used to.”
“Most of the Nigerians who have done big screen movies in Hollywood are people who were raised in England. Most of them have a different type of accent. And they [Hollywood filmmakers] said to me, ‘We want an African to be very dark.”
“That’s the kind of African that we are used to. We are not used to your kind of African. We want Lupita dark. You are not dark enough and you are not white enough to be half-caste, so it would be hard to place you. You are not mixed race. Then your accent, you don’t sound American or British, neither do you sound African.’”
“And I’m like, ‘How do you think Africans sound? Because Africa is full of a million and one countries. And inside those countries, we have different dialects and different accents.’”
