I Was Criticized For Not Being Light Skinned – Nigerian Actress Speaks On Career Struggles

Nigerian actress and model, Idia Aisien has opened up on some of the struggles she encountered in her career, especially from her debut performance in Play Network’s ‘Nneka The Pretty Serpent.’

The actress aired her opinion in an interview with the media personality Chude Judeonwo, where she discussed the criticism that followed the film, stating that the major reason for the criticism is because of who played the role of Nneka, the complexion, etc.

She said, “When it first came out in the cinemas, I was a little bit heartbroken by some of the comments that people were leaving. Comments about me not being light-skinned or Igbo, about me destroying what meant something to a lot of Nigerians. Nigerians loved their veteran actors. They love their Nollywood classics. So, it was something that I just wished people could see how much passion went into it at the time.”

She continued saying, “I was hurt at first because Nneka is a fictional character and anyone could bring something different to the character but I don’t think that tribe and skin colour should matter. I mean, Black Panther was Americans pretending like they are in Africa. A lot of people who criticised it (the film- Nneka the pretty serpent), criticised it because of the choice of Nneka, which broke my heart.”

Aisien buttressed her point by stating that the Nigerian community needs to respect and love women more.

According to her, many Nigerians attribute the success of women to their male counterparts because they don’t like or respect them.

She said, “Nigerians need to be kinder to women, we don’t like women in this country because if you look at everything in terms of job, pay, and how women are treated.”