You can never catch me wear bum shorts

Actress, Dakore Egbuson-Akande, tells ‘NONYE
BEN-NWANKWO about her career and her style
How was the Fifty experience?
It was an awesome experience. It was a very
positive one. We had to work on a world class
set. The production was good. It was a great
meeting of minds and talents. Our director was
great. Mo Abudu, the executive producer of Fifty,
is an awesome woman. I have great respect for
her. I am really happy I was part of the movie. I
did the script test and I got the role. It wasn’t
as if it just fell on my laps.
Really, so you did an audition?
Oh yes. We all had to do that. We got selected
to do the job and we just did that.
Since you have been acting for a long time,
would you say Fifty is just like any other movie
you have been called to feature in?
No way! I can happily say this is the biggest
movie I have done, it is way more than all I have
been doing in terms of the production value, in
terms of publicity and the spotlight. I was over
the moon when the movie was selected to be
screened at an international film festival. It
shows they could identify with our work. The
recognition was very important. It was like a pat
on the back for a job well done.
What kind of experience did you have with your
colleagues that also featured in the movie?
It was an awesome experience. I worked more
closely with Nse. We had a great working
relationship. I also had a great experience with
Wole Ojo. We had a nice banter and rapport.
Everything was just smooth.
Now that you have gone a step higher in your
career with Fifty, does it mean that it has now
become your benchmark?
I think even you would be disappointed with me
if I should lower my standard after Fifty. To be
honest though, I wouldn’t discriminate. If it was
a small movie that I knew had a message, I
would do it, but the production has to be tight. I
love to do scripts that I love and scripts that
speak to my spirit. But I wouldn’t want to be
associated with anything negative or something
that would not help the society. I will not do
anything that is against my personal ethics. I
have always been very selective about my work.
It didn’t start today.
How come you have not produced your own
movie?
I haven’t done that yet. Because everybody is
doing it doesn’t mean I have to do it. Some of
us are better actors than producers. But then, I
wear so many different hats in my career. I can
dance, sing and do other things, including TV. I
will produce a film at the right time. I am not
the kind of person that jumps on the
bandwagon. There are so many stories and
ideas that I have and I am cultivating right now.
It is just a matter of time. I have two small
children that I have to take care of at the
moment.
So we are not seeing you going on a hiatus
again?
Certainly not. No way! I was away for five years
but I am back. I have been blessed.
What magic did you perform, you were away for
a while and came back and fitted in right away?
It is just God. If I take the glory, God might
punish me. He did it all. My fans also didn’t
allow me to rest. They were always leaving
messages and telling me to come back that they
missed me. God has been faithful. It hasn’t been
easy. I came back again in 2012. I did some
courses in America while I was away from
Nigeria.
You have two kids yet your body is still trim,
how did you do it?
It was determination. When I had my first baby, I
looked at my body and I didn’t like what I saw. I
had to change my lifestyle, my diet and I had to
take my exercise seriously. It wasn’t easy at all.
After my second baby, I kept eating right. It
wasn’t easy but I had to fight for it. I love
fashion, I love looking good. It wouldn’t have
been nice if I couldn’t fit into these nice things I
like just because of my figure. I had to do what I
could to look good. I am so conscious of what I
eat.
Do you just look nice because you are an
actress?
I simply love to look good all the time. I am a
stickler for that. I have never been overweight.
Being an actress also added to it, so I have to
also look good because of the profession I am
into.
Does your looking good end with just what you
wear?
No way! I want to be fit. I want to run around
with my children. They actually keep me fit. I
want to keep up with them. For me to be able to
function, everything has to be in the right place.
My car has to be clean; my house has to be
clean every day. Style is the way you carry
yourself. I love fashion no doubt but I am more
interested in my style. There is a difference
between fashion and style for me. I love fashion
though. It gives women the power when they
wear nice clothes.
Most actresses dress outrageously, why have
you not been caught dressing that way?
I have my own way of being outrageous. I can
be outrageous in the characters I play in a
movie. But as for me, the most outrageous thing
I did was to have dreadlocks. It was
outstanding. People asked me if I was okay. We
were vilified back then.
Did your husband ask you to cut it off?
No, he didn’t. He was even upset that I cut it. I
told him I was tired of the locks. I carried
dreadlocks for 13 years. It was a long time.
Do you have tattoos?
I don’t have obvious ones.
Is there anything we can’t catch you wear?
I can’t be seen wearing bum shorts. I am not a
fan of that. I just don’t like it. I used to wear
shorts when I was younger but when I got older,
I stopped. There are times you wear something
and you wouldn’t like the attention you get. I had
to stop. I am very lady-like in the way I dress.
What is your fashion fetish?
I love shoes. I am not the kind of person you
would want to take shoe shopping. I would just
fall in love with this and that and that and this.
Oh, I really love shoes.
Don’t you find it difficult to repeat clothes?
How? They are my clothes. As long as I paid for
them, I can wear them again and again. Maybe I
would be nice not wearing a particular dress for
two days at a stretch, but I can wear the clothes
a year later or thereabout. But don’t even tell me
that I am repeating a dress, I don’t care.
What do you like your husband to wear?
He looks so dapper in suits. He looks very
distinguished. I really like him on suits or tuxedo.
How long does it take you to dress up?
It takes me like 30 minutes. It’s only the making
up part that takes more time. But then, I have to
do it quickly. I don’t have time. I have got things
to do.
How does it feel to be a mum?
It is fun and challenging but I wouldn’t trade it
for any other thing.
So they give you time to work?
They have to give me time. I was an actress
before I had them. If I stop being an actress,
then I would be a miserable mum to them