Tonto Dikeh sat down with Chude Jideonwo for the latest episode of “#WithChude” and discussed her acting career, past relationships, losing her stepmother, the relationship she has with God, and her desire to be taken seriously in the political space.
On what caused her fight with God:
I donât want to say God let me down. The love I have for God has never gone; I still pray to him every day, but I just took a step back. I said you know what God? if youâre gonna raise stones, raise them. I just got to that point in my life that I just trusted him so much for certain things not to happen, and they did. And you keep wondering, is there really a God? Is my faith real? I mean, am I doing this well?
God is not tired of me though; heâs not tired of me, that I know. I donât know how to put in words, but itâs deeper than Iâm saying, yeah, itâs deeper.
On how she started her career in Nollywood:
I was told, âWe have this audition upstairs come and take itâ and thatâs how it went. I never bought a form, I never filled a form, never did anything. I went for the audition, they asked me to act as though I were crying, and that was the first time I ever attempted acting. Immediately they said it, I just started to cry and they asked me to clean my eyes. Then, they were like come, we need you!
If you know Port Harcourt people in those days, we were not big on entertainment. Every 17-year-old girl had fleets of land, properties, and a 20-year-old girl has an oil well. We were more or less oil-inclined, so we were not about entertainment, although we knew entertainers and weâve seen movies. But it was not my thing.
I just felt like it was an opportunity, and I took it; I just took it one day at a time I knew where it was going to, never knew where it was leading to, it just happened. It was not something I planned, and I was opportune to be in that business, like I said, Iâve done that, it was a channel for me to climb the ladder and thatâs what it is.
On losing her step mum:
She was the only mom I ever knew; She was the only woman involved in my life, she was the only one who supported me when I left home for entertainment, sheâs the only one who has ever prayed for me as a mother. Sheâs the only one who has blessed me as a mother, fed me as a mother, and clothed me as a mother.
The closest Iâve got to love from motherhood was from her, and she gave everything. She gave us more than what she had; she was the best woman on earth. Because of her, sometimes I say, thank God I never knew my mum, because maybe she wouldnât have been as good as this. She was everything a mother should be and more.
To watch the full interview; subscribe to watch.withchude.com to watch the video version or listen.withchude.com to listen to the extended play podcast.
