By Rita Okoye
Scarlet Gomez is a prominent Nigerian actress recognised for her leading role in the 2023 Showmax Original telenovela, Wura.
Her journey to limelight began in 2012 when she won the Miss United Nations Tourism pageant in Kingston, Jamaica.
Since then, Gomez has continued to make significant strides in the Nigerian entertainment industry.
In this interview with Sunday Sun, she reflected on her entry into the industry, the challenges she is faced with, her love life, and more.
How did the name Scarlet come about, is it just a stage name?
A lot of people think Scarlet is a stage name, but it’s not. It was mother-given. I always like to say that I think my mum was trying to show off that she read English and wanted people to know by giving me an English name. But I thank God she gave me the name because it’s cute, and I didn’t have to look for a stage name.
You started with beauty pageant, then music videos, and now film, how did that transition happen?
I wanted to be a newscaster or a presenter, but everything else was just a means to an end for me. It was me as a young Nigerian youth looking at life and thinking, “It’s just me and my brother left.” We lost our dad when I was eight, and we didn’t want the entire burden to be on my mum, seeing how she was struggling. I asked myself, “What can I bring to the table?” That was how I got into modelling, pageants, and then acting. But once I stumbled into acting, I fell in love with it.
How exactly did you get into modelling?
I was just walking down the street one day when a man approached me. I was really skinny and you could tell my height from afar. This man was just passing by my street when he saw me from the other side, crossed over, and said, “Fine girl, would you like to be a model?” I thought models needed training and everything, and I knew nothing about it, but he said, “No, we can train you.” I told him, “First off, if you can talk to my mum and she says yes, no problem.” And he was like, “Where’s your mum?” I said, “She’s upstairs.” He said, “Can I go and see her now?” I said, “Peace of the Lord be with you.” So he went upstairs. I was expecting to hear an argument, but I heard nothing. I thought, “what’s going on?” I went upstairs, and my mum just looked at me. In my mind, I thought, “When this man leaves, this woman is going to beat the hell out of me.” But when he left, she didn’t say anything. She just asked, “So what time is the audition tomorrow?” I was amazed. He told her about an audition the next day, and she was fine with it. I was shocked because I had always thought my mum was super strict and only wanted me to do what she approved of. But that moment made me realise that maybe if I was vocal enough to tell her what I wanted, she would let me do it. That was how the journey started. I went for the audition and won. I became the first Face of Spice Television. That’s how I got into modelling, and I enjoyed it. Growing up with boys, it was fascinating to suddenly be around girls, seeing how they fought, spoke, and had catfights, it was intriguing. That reeled me in, and from there, I started going for auditions. I did MBGN (Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria), and I attended almost 10 pageants.
Did your mum know you were attending those pageants?
Yes, she did. She saw the prize money I was bringing home, and it was helping us. She always knew where I was going and what I was doing. I made my first million as a teenager.
What did you do with your first million?
I gave everything to my mum. I kept giving her all my earnings because that was the whole point, I wanted to help. I lacked nothing as a child. If I wanted something, my mum would try her best to provide it. And if she couldn’t, we knew it was because she genuinely couldn’t afford it. We were raised with contentment. My dad always said, “If you have just two pairs of jeans and your neighbour has 10, wear yours well, and they will still envy you.” So, I grew up with that mentality. Until I was about 21 or 22, I gave everything I earned to my mum because I felt like she needed it more. If I needed anything, I knew I could always go to her.
How did you get into movies?
It was by mistake. I had a friend that was into acting, and I knew that was another way of making money that I hadn’t tapped into. My now-husband had friends who knew about Africa Magic auditions, so they told us about one happening. I didn’t go with the intention of auditioning, I just wanted to see her off and observe the process until I found my ground and the confidence to walk into the audition room.
I told my mum where I was going. I don’t know about others, but for my mother, by 3:30 p.m, she must see you knocking on the door, and by 4 O’clock, you must be inside the house. So I told her I would be back by 4, and she said okay.
The audition was at Maryland. When we got there, I saw over a thousand people, and I thought, “Is there a fire?” My friend said no, that’s the audition.
They gave her number 600. I said I couldn’t wait, but she said we should see how it goes, maybe they have a way to speed it up. I couldn’t enter with her since she was the one auditioning, so I kept her bag and waited outside under a canopy. By 3:30, I knew I was already in trouble. I turned off my phone because I didn’t want my mum to call me. I tried to enter the audition space, but they said I couldn’t unless I was auditioning, so I wrote my name down thinking that by the time I got inside, my friend would probably be coming out. I joined the line, which kept getting shorter, but my friend was nowhere to be found. Before I knew it, the girl before me opened the door, and my friend was coming out, and they were letting me in. I entered the audition room completely blank, I didn’t know what I had come to do.
I will never forget, I saw Sanchez. He was right in front, with two other people. They asked, what do you have prepared for us? Do you have a monologue? I said, “sir, what is a monologue?”
They asked again, do you want to act something? I said, I’ve never acted. They asked, “then why are you here?” I did something, I don’t even remember what, but I knew it didn’t make sense. I was not expecting to hear from them. I didn’t even want to see them again. I said, thank you very much, and left. I saw my friend outside and told her this was the end of our friendship because of the cane I thought I would receive because of her. I got home, and as usual, my mum yelled, and I explained what happened. A month later, I got a call from Africa Magic, and I thought they were trying to reach my friend. They said, no, you are the one we’re trying to reach, we have a role for you. I told my mum, “hey, remember that audition I went for?” She said yes. She thought I was about to tell her I escorted my friend again. But I told her Africa Magic just called me and said they have a role for me. She thought it was a scam. “Are they kidnappers? Is there a number I can call?” She called them back, and they confirmed it was real.
I went for it, thinking there would be another screening. Lo and behold, there was no screening. They just handed me my script. That’s how I got my first lead role. This was for Doll House in 2015.
Did your friend ever get into the industry?
She never did. Somewhere deep down inside of me, when I run into her, I kind of feel guilty, like I’m living her life.
How would you describe the impact that Wura has had on your career?
I’m not even going to lie, I thank God for how much and how far Wura has brought me. Yes, it has been the biggest project I’ve ever been on, and it has opened doors that I didn’t even think were possible to open. You know, people take me more seriously now. My face is there, you cannot ignore me. If you do not see me on your TV, you will see me on the posters. If you don’t see me on the posters, you will hear my voice on the radio. So, I’ve come to stay, and you guys don’t have any way to push me out.
Is your husband also entertainment-inclined?
My husband is a lot more than just Laycon’s manager. Currently, he’s not even Laycon’s manager anymore. He is an A&R, Music A&R. He practically handles everything sound-related, from music to film scores and all of that. So yes, he is in the entertainment industry. Honestly, it makes things easier for me being with him as a partner because I don’t have to explain a lot of things or try to make him see my world. If I tell him something, he already understands. So, I don’t have the issues that people who are married to non-entertainment individuals would have, which I think is a blessing as well. I think the greatest consideration for my choice was the fact that he was my number one supporter. Beyond my mum, he is the only other person I have ever come across in my life who is willing to support me no matter what I say I want to do. If I wake up tomorrow and tell my husband, “I’m tired of acting; I want to become a stripper,” he would ask me, “Does it make you happy?” If I say yes, he would probably be the one to go and buy me the heels. That’s the kind of person I’m married to. So yes, I think I’m fortunate, and I’m thankful for that.