Nollywood is blessed with so many actresses who can fit into any role assigned to them. Although they are talented, they are known to play particular roles whether they take on good or bad characters.
There are those stereotyped to fit into particular roles such as gateman, house girl, mother or father, elders king, queen, princess and even prince (royalty).
However, we shall look at the Nollywood celebs who are well known to take up motherly roles and excel in them whether they play good or bad characters.
A lot of fans love the likes of Patience Ozokwo, Ebele Okaro, Nkechi Nweje, Ngozi Ezeonu, Chinwe Owoh, Sola Sobowale, Rita Edochie among others.
They have made millions of fans across the world due to the roles they play as mother regardless of the character they portray in the movies.
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These women have carved a niche for themselves and are well respected on set and in their private lives.
Of the lot, we shall be looking at only three Nollywood celebs who enjoy acting motherly roles and have excelled at it. Mind you, some of them are even grandmothers in real life.
The article was not written or listed given any particular actress prominence over the others. In other words, that Patience Ozokwo is number one on the list doesn’t necessarily mean that she is the best at playing motherly roles in Nollywood. We will leave that for you to decide and even make additions.
1. PATIENCE OZOKWO
She is easily the most ruthless of them all. She enjoys playing mother in movies and she is well known to bring the heat on her on screen daughter-in-law.
Her ruthlessness goes beyond as she showed her greed in the movie “Mother Of Wealth” when she wanted to use her son who was perfectly played by the talented Jerry Williams, for money through wicked means.
Aside him, the actress really ‘peppered’ her daughter played by Sonia Uche – yes, the real life first daughter of veteran movie producer, actress, and costumier, Uche Nancy. Of course, the elder sister of actress, Chinenye Nnebe.
Patience Ozokwo was born September 14, 1958 in Amaobo, Ngwo in Enugu State, Nigeria. However, she attended Abimbola Gibson Memorial School in Lagos state. The popular Nollywood actress obtained a degree in fine and applied arts from the Institute of management and technology Enugu.
It’s understood that Mama Gee, as Patience Ozokwo is fondly called, was already passionate about acting right from her primary school. She would take part in stage plays and appeared to enjoy every moment of it.
However, before becoming a star, the thespian was involved in radio drama. She also was part of the soap opera, titled Someone Cares by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
It is worth noting that Patience Ozokwo was married when she was only 19 but lost her husband in 2000. However, the talented actress is blessed with three biological children and five adopted ones who also bear her name.
On life’s biggest regret for the Nollywood superstar, she stated clearly that not getting married to the man of her choice. Also, she had to stay without getting married again after she lost her husband.
In 2014, the thespian was chosen among the 100 Nigerians chosen by the government to mark the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates.
You might want to look out for Patience Ozokwo in the movie below.
- MOTHERS OF THE NIGHT
- CAKE
- CHIEF DADDY 1 & 2
- IKEMBA
- ADAIFE
2. EBELE OKARO
This Nollywood actress and having children in Nollywood movies are like 5 and 6 – completely inseparable.
Ebele Okaro has been playing on screen mother for so many years that her younger colleagues call her “mother” or “mummy” when they are not even on set. The truth is that the thespian even has motherly looks even while acting. She is known as the “Mama of Nollywood”.
Okaro is one of the most popular in the Nigerian movie industry and she us well respected for her “diversity and flexibility”. This simply means that she can fit into any role as though she was born to do so.
A movie appears incomplete without having the soft-spoken Nollywood actress in it. She is a thorough bred professional with great talent. A lot of upcoming actresses look up to her for inspiration and she does not fail them.
In fact, she blends in so well with the younger thespians because she understands them as a mother understands her own children.
Ebele Okaro was raised in Enugu, Nigeria but was born in London, United Kingdom on 19 January, 1964. She schooled at the Santa Maria Primary School. She also attended the Queen of the Holy Rosary Secondary School and obtained her Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (SSCE) from there.
On completion of secondary school education, Okaro started to study at the University of Calabar but was to later discover her passion for theatre arts. She then switched from studying Education and successfully graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts. It is worth noting that she also was involved in her school’s elementary drama groups.
It was not a difficult decision for Ebele Okaro to make to switch from studying Education to theatre arts which she was passionate about already.
However, she had to go for the National Youth Service having been posted to the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). It was there that things started to happen for her as she appeared in some TV shows.
When things got bad in the Nigerian movie industry, the actress had to leave the job she was so passionate about and look elsewhere so as to earn some money. It is understood that she worked at an embassy in Lagos at the time.
It is well documented that Okaro produced and acted in Musical Whispers. The movie was focused on caring for children with autism.
You can enjoy some of the listed movies below if you want to watch some of Ebele Okaro’s movies.
- WHAT I DID FOR LOVE
- ANSWER YOUR CALL
- THE SCORPION WIFE
- BROKEN LIFE
- FALLEN DESIRE
- HOME TRUTHS
- THE CATASTROPHE
- BLACK ROSE
- HIGH TENSION LADIES
- THE PORTRAIT
3. NGOZI EZEONU
She is a veteran Nollywood actress of high repute. Born Ngozi Ikpelue on May 23, 1965, the movie star has made a name for herself for her “maternal roles” in Nigerian films.
Millions of fans across the world love her because of her acting skills and role interpretation skills. Ezeonu can fit into any role whether as queen mother, poor mother struggling to take care of her children or any other type of role assigned to her.
The thespian who is from Ogbunike, studied Journalism at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism. She also worked at Radio Lagos and Eko FM.
If you recall, when Ngozi Ezeonu first started her career in Nollywood, she played younger character roles. She was fantastic in the 1993 Igbo movie, Nneka The Pretty Serpent as she took up the supporting role of Nkechi.
The actress was also brilliant in the 1994 blockbuster, Glamour Girls as she played the role of a high society mistress called Thelma.
She also starred in Adesuwa and was nominated as the Best Supporting Actress for her role in Adesuwa at the 8th Africa Movie Academy Awards.
It is worth noting that Ngozi Ezeonu has a high standard when it comes to picking movie roles. She is quite picky on the scripts that she accepts and is well documented to have said in an interview that she would not want to do anything wrong to disappoint the young ones who look up to her as a role model or for inspiration.
In fact, the actress is known to be strict and a disciplinarian.
She took on a weight loss journey and in 2013,many were left in shock as she dropped a lot of weight – about 50 percent. There were rumours that were being spread around that the light-skinned beautiful actress was sick which she came out to debunk.
At the time, Ezeonu stated clearly on different platforms that her weight loss was her choice and it was intentional. However, she ended this journey when she experienced chronic Anorexia (a lack or loss of appetite for food).
You can also watch Ngozi Ezeonu in the movies listed below.
- MOTHERS OF THE NIGHT
- TASTE OF FREEDOM
- SWEETEST AGONY
- HIGH TENSION LADIES
- BEAUTIFUL
- THE FISHERMAN
- ROYAL DISCORD
- FAMILY STRINGS
- AGONY OF A SON
- CROSS OF FATE
All these respected Nollywood actresses have contributed meaningfully to the growth of the Nigerian movie industry (Nollywood). They are in it for the passion and genuine intention to bring quality movies to Nigerians, Africans and the world in general.
All three thespians are still waxing strong in Nollywood and have millions of fans across the world. They show absolutely no signs of slowing down but rather, appear to be getting stronger and contributing meaningfully to bring the best film on screen.
Mind you, we randomly picked from the actresses stated earlier on in the beginning of the article as we wanted to talk about only three Nollywood celebs who enjoy acting motherly roles.
