MERCY AIGBE: What I miss about my daughter

ward-winning actress Mercy Aigbe is an amazing star who has passion for acting, fashion and entrepreneur. The Benin, Edo State-born actress was recently named as the brand ambassador of Mary Mak Skincare. 
In this interview with OLAITAN GANIU, the amiable mother relished her motherhood experience, career, fashion taste, among others.

TELL us about yourself

A lot of people know that I am very hardworking, passionate, humble and playful.

What drives your passion?

I always want to be successful in anything I set out to do. As an actress, I’m passionate about acting and also the business aspect too, which my fans can attest to. I’m a trending fasionista. I’m very hard working. I like to make my own money.

What is the secret, you don’t look your age?

I try to live a healthy lifestyle, I try as much as I can to stay away from fatty food. I love eating vegetables and drinking a lot of water. I also exercise when I have the time because of my busy schedule, but anytime I’m free I hit the gym to burn some calories.

Do you have any project at hand?

I have a movie titled 77 bullets which is going to come out before the end of this year and I can assure you that people are going to love it. The cast members in the movie include myself, Yinka Quadri, Abimbola Ogunlowo and other A-list actors.

And I have other movies that I featured in including a film titled, That which binds us by Dayo Amusa, which will hit the cinemas in a few weeks, and another one with Uche Jombo and Ini Edo, Heaven on my mind, will be in cinema anytime soon and a couple of others. Apart from movies, I am a fashion entrepreneur and my daughter also launched her makeup line.

Is your daughter also into acting?

No! She is not showing interest in acting. It’s my son that loves acting. As I usually say, whatever my children want to do, I am going to give them my 100% support.

How will you explain the joy of motherhood?

It’s a beautiful thing (laughs). Though it’s not easy, she’s gone to school outside the country. We’ve been together for 17 years. She’s my best friend, we gist and talk like friends. Letting her go was so emotional for me, I still miss her a lot. But it is her life, she’s a big girl now and she has started her own journey of life. I have brought her up well by imbibing the values that I want her to live with and I’ve given her everything and I wish her the best. The joy is unexplainable.

You were recently named as the brand influencer of a skincare product, what made them choose you among all other actors?

I think, the producer of Mary Mak Skincare product is in the best position to answer this question. But all I can tell you is that I represent a very credible brand and I do my investigation very well. When they approached me, I made sure my team did their proper investigation by making sure that their brand is what I can identify with because of the feedback I will get from people I am marketing these products to; I will want it to be real and genuine. I won’t want bad feedback, so I make sure that before I go into any sort of partnership or deal with any brand they have to have integrity.

Also, what I can say is probably Mary Mak saw in me an enthusiastic and business-minded woman, because I know what marketing is all about and I know how to push brands. So, they must have seen how I push other brands and the energy I put into making sure that those products get to a wide audience and target market. They must have their reason for choosing me.

I am actually influencing some of their products, including skin body scrub, facial cleanser and cream and Glutathione patch.

Yoruba movie and going to cinema, which is a new development?

I don’t agree with you. Yes, it’s being revived because I remember when I was young, we used to go see Hulbert Ogunde and others at the cinema. So, the culture has been revived, which is a welcome development and thank God that people are accepting because it serves as another avenue for movie makers like myself to make more money. So, we are happy about it.

Home video and cinema, which one generates more revenue?

Both are rewarding, it is just different channels to make money from your work.

People are of the opinion that movie screening at the cinema has expiry date or period

Yes, you might have a stipulated time but as long as people are asking for the movie, it will continue to be shown for as long as the demand is high. So, then maybe DVD sells for N200 or there about and a movie ticket sells about N2500, N1000, N500 just do the mathematics. So, it is an avenue to make money. I cannot say, per se, which one fetches more money for us. Putting your movie online also can sell; IrokoTV and the likes are just different media through which you can get revenue for your work.

As a movie producer and actress, what are the challenges the industry is facing?

It is still piracy and now they’ve taking it to online. Like my movie, 77 bullets, one day somebody sent me a poster that said 77 bullets was showing on Youtube with my picture. And I was like ‘I’ve not even finished editing this movie.’ I quickly went to check on Youtube channel, lo and behold, it was another movie entirely. All these things are not good for us as actors and movie producers.

This piracy is still there, so it is a huge challenge. But gradually with the cinema and online, we can explore other ways of getting our money back.

Any regrettable roles so far?

No, there has been none.