By Damilola Fatunmise
Regina Chukwu, the radiant actress and proud mother of two, wears many hats.
As the CEO of Triple R Production, she has brought captivating Yoruba films like “Idaro” and “Ogunso” to the screen.
Beyond the film set, Regina is also the driving force behind “Tripleglow,” her skincare line. With a filmography boasting over 50 home videos and still growing, Regina now offers a personal glimpse into her life on her YouTube channel, “Unscripted With Regina Chukwu,” where she candidly shares her journey as a young widow, her current ventures, and more.
Can you tell us more about yourself?
I am an actress, a movie producer, a serial entrepreneur, and a mother of two who is adorable, and I am Regina. I married in my early 20s. I have also sold petty stuff at the side back then around Iyana Ipaja.
What’s your happiest day as an actress?
I will say it was the day my movie “Ogunso” came out.
What’s your worst nightmare?
The beginning of my husband’s sickness that led to his death. It all started a while after I got pregnant with my first child. He was using all his savings to get medications for himself but I never knew that was the beginning of his end. Another day I will never forget is the day a fellow woman forcefully snatched my daughter away from me, I cried and was hopeless.
How did you venture into acting?
I will say I started it right from an early stage, from cultural groups in school back then. I am an Igbo girl who was born and bred in Lagos, so to speak the Yoruba language wasn’t a hard one at all, even after all. Then, life challenges came, and I had to start fending for myself. I met my husband, and I told him immediately that I was going to be an actor. He said no problem, but I have to finish childbearing first. All I went through didn’t make me a happy woman to chase my dreams, not until a lady who just used to buy stuff from me at the roadside kept disturbing me to join the movie industry because I was too beautiful. I reluctantly followed her to their rehearsal and something happened that I couldn’t continue with that group, then joined Kunle AFOD’s group. AFOD at then was a respected actor, director-cum-producer and he advised us to start producing movies. Luckily for me, my first movie production came to reality with the help of my mother’s loan and the rest is history now.
Why did you remain single since the demise of your husband?
Well, traditionally, I am still married. After his death, I was given a condition that I could only have my children to myself if I remained married to my husband. That is, if I try to remarry, my children will be taken away from me, which I never wanted, so I had to hold on to the condition.
Can you tell us how you met your late husband?
Okay, I used to be a tomboy. I love street fights a lot, and there was my late husband who had his business place very close to where my mum used to sell food. There was a day I was fighting in our street and he came to rescue me. Then, he told me bluntly that he was going to marry me; in my head, I was like, marry me, keh? Anybody who spoke the Igbo language around us then was automatically our brother, so I used to refer to him as my brother. He didn’t waste time making his intentions known as he went straight to my mum to tell her he wanted to marry me. My husband made me a woman. I wasn’t ready at all for marriage when he came to ask for my hand in marriage. I wanted to go and study Theater Arts at OAU, but just because my parents were not in support of acting, they didn’t allow me to go for it, so I waited. When he was persistent, I told him that he would sponsor me to university because I wanted to go to school. He agreed and told my parents that he would sponsor me only if I marry him and then went to school from his house; I agreed and got admission into Lagos State Polytechnic. We did our traditional marriage and wanted to start planning for a church wedding when we discovered that I was pregnant, but the Catholic Church don’t join pregnant women in holy matrimony.
Can you recount your memories with your late husband?
It would have been sweet because he was a loving man, but that sickness that took his life messed up things for us. My first child was less than a year old when a pastor told me that the lord would be blessing my family with a male child. Little did I know that I was pregnant again; I went home to tell my sick husband, and he said I should go and abort it. If you know Igbo people very well, you will know they don’t joke with male children; when he heard that it was going to be a male child, he later allowed it, and before my second child came to life, his health had already deteriorated. We cried to sleep and woke up crying; we were too broke to afford good meals, not to talk of the good life. I was advised by my mum to allow him to go for proper care at the village where his patients are. I waited to have my son, and after some months, I took him to the village where he died after some weeks, and reality came so fast! A young widow with two little children. I came back to Lagos to face life squarely, but after all the pains, here I am today to the glory of God.
What were the major challenges you faced as a widow?
It was much for me, a young lady becoming a woman to cater for her children all alone with nobody’s support at all. Later, my mother came to take my children to stay with her so that I could face my hustle. It would have been worst if not for my parent’s support. When I came back to Lagos after my husband’s burial, my landlady advised me to move from my room and parlour to a room so that the rent would be more affordable for me; I began to face rejection and weird behaviours from neighbours. No more respect for me anymore; it was a very bad experience, I won’t lie.
What advice do you have to give to young widows out there?
The first thing is don’t let your present situation take the way of your future, stand up for yourself, and please take care of your children no matter what! There are a lot of young widows out there who make their children suffer their predicament, don’t be buried in your problem; get a way out and be useful.
Can you now remarry?
Not yet! I will say I am ‘No’ because I don’t have the opportunity for now.
What is new about Regina Chukwu?
Nothing much, doing my business and focusing on becoming better by the day.