SINGLE PARENT: I’m paying the price for being famous —Rose Odika

Rose Odika is an actress, fashion designer and skin care therapist. In this interview with TAYO GESINDE, the deputy governor of Association of Theatre Arts, Practitioners (ANTP), Oyo State chapter, speaks on her foray into acting, her love fashion and the pains and gains of being an actress. Excerpts:
Foray into acting.
I started acting when I was in secondary school. Those days, we had French and Drama Clubs. Then, I was in French Club and we used to act drama a lot. My vice principal, Dr (Mrs) Ero called me and said she noticed that I had talent in acting and that I should face it as a career and my father never liked it. He wanted me to study Linguistics or German Language.
The fact that I studied Physical Education at Alvan Ikoku College of Education, with our degree affiliated to University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), did not stop me from acting. Anytime we were on vacation, I would still come and join Drama Club. I was with Dr  Bode Sobande’s Odu Team at the University of Ibadan  Prince Wemimo  later came along and invited me to feature in a movie, Ododo Eye, which brought me into limelight.

On fashion design.
The fashion aspect came in 20 years after my acting career. I felt there was nothing challenging again. I was already a producer, actress and script writer. So, it was no longer challenging and I was looking for something that would still challenge my talent. So, I went into fashion design five years ago, I did my training at Princess Stitches and later, I did my skin care training. It was easy for me to combine acting, fashion design and skin therapy because I have passion for them all. I am enjoying the fashion aspect, especially when it comes to costuming, putting colours and combining materials together to give me unique attire. In fact, I am finding it interesting. For instance, I will be at the Miami Fashion Week to showcase my designs on April 23, and my fashion label is Rose JB. Fashion industry is one industry that I am yet to explore fully.

Definition of style.
Style is what suits you at a particular moment. From the little I have learnt, your style can change at any time. If you say you are the type that wears gown all the time, something would always make you wear trouser. So, your style depends on your mindset and at other times, your mood determines your style. If you are happy, you want to fly colours so your mood determines the colour you wear.

Beauty regimen.
I am like this through the grace of God. I don’t have any special thing that I do but what I know is that for an average woman to be ‘clean,’ there are some certain things she needs to do. In the morning, you must make sure you cleanse your face with a cleanser that suits your face. If your skin does not like anything harsh, don’t go for astringents that are harsh. Clean your face, use normal powder, brush your teeth twice a day; morning and night. Use mouth wash and feminine wash for your private part. Always have a clean shave, wear nice lingerie. Some people are always nice outside but their inside is not usually clean. Make sure you are clean inside and outside. In fact, your night gown should speak more about you than what you wear ordinarily in the day. You must also smell nice when going to bed.

Favourite designers.
 I love Funmi Ajila, H & W shirts, Marks and Spencer and Tommy. I am however, not a designer- freak so, I can wear anything.

Favourite colours.
Orange and chocolate brown.

Favourite perfumes.
Hugo Boss.

Choice of accessories.
I am a very simple person. I love beads and wire works.

Accessory I cannot do without.
My earrings. That is what determines if I am a female or not.

Most expensive item in my wardrobe.
My handbags.

What I won’t be caught dead wearing.
Mini skirt.

My hair and nails.
I do my nails a lot. I do acrylic on my nails a lot but now I want my nails to rest because it is breaking off. For my hair, I am a weavon person.

Opinion on toning.
If you are fair, you can tone because of our weather. To maintain your shining look therefore, you need to tone, but if you are black, you have no business toning.

Tattoo.
I have never done tattoo on my body because as an actress, you have dynamic roles, if you are acting the role of a village girl, you don’t have to have tattoo. One day, I was watching a movie where a village girl who was suffering had tattoo on her neck and we were like, a village girl with a tattoo? If you know what you are doing, you are not supposed to have tattoo as an actress because you can be called upon to play any role.

Cosmetic surgery.
That is a no go area for me. Those who are doing it are seeing the results, the side effects are higher. We lost an icon because of that.

Provocative dressing.
I am neutral about that. Variety is the spice of life. There are some men who love that so as ladies, if you are comfortable in it, I have no problem with it.

Greatest physical asset.
My skin and eyes.

Diet or exercise.
 I diet and I do a lot of exercise by walking within the estate where I live.

Special treat.
 I travel out of the country and spoil myself by doing a lot of shopping.

Advice on how to stay young and beautiful.
Live a healthy life. Most women drink a lot, when you drink, your skin will break out, and you will look 50 when you are actually 40. A woman who smokes adds 10 years to her age. If your eating habit is bad, you will gain weight and look older than your age. So watch what you eat and eat lots of fruits.
Pains and gains of being a celebrity.
The gains are more than the pains. There were times I found myself in situations that I knew if I were not a star, I won’t go scot free. When you are on the queue in the bank and you are recognised, they would say madam, step forward. It’s lovely. The negative effect is that when a guy takes you to his mother that this is the girl I want to marry the mother would say “ iyawo aye, this popular woman, you won’t enjoy her o.” That is why most actresses are not married. That is why some of us are divorced. I am a victim of that. Most men cannot cope with a celebrity wife, they get hurt when they go out with their wives and the wives are recognised while they are not. It hurts their egos. The major reason I have not remarried is that most men that I come across want me to drop acting and I cannot. They love you but they cannot cope with your popularity. They can’t take you somewhere secretly, everybody will know you are there and a majority of them are married. It is not easy at my age to find somebody who is not married and they don’t want a popular woman because they don’t want their wives to hear about it. So that is a price to pay for being famous.