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By Rita Okoye
Diane Nyeche is a highly resilient and talented professional in the Nigerian entertainment industry. Her career in Nollywood commenced at the age of 18, and despite facing significant challenges, she has consistently excelled, becoming one of the most recognisable and cherished figures on screen.
In this interview with Sunday Sun, the accomplished actress discusses the rigorous hurdles she navigated during her ascent, addresses professional betrayals and shares insights on other pressing industry matters.
How did your journey into Nollywood begin?
Acting is something I have always had a deep passion for. In fact, it is more than just passion, it feels like a calling, almost a spiritual connection. Being in the entertainment industry requires that spiritual element. If it isn’t a true calling, you will find it incredibly difficult to navigate and scale through the challenges. I new I wanted to be an actor right from my secondary school days. I officially entered Nollywood in 2008 when I was about 18 or 19. I attended an audition in Enugu and successfully scaled through. I met the director and the whole team; they were very welcoming and complimented me. That was where it all started.
What were the challenges you faced at that age?
I secured a movie role through an audition process. I was dedicated, spending the entire first week on the production set, reading and preparing. My university was in Agbani, about a 30-45 minutes journey from the production location in Trans Ekulu, Enugu. I left school and started squatting with someone instead of staying in the hotel because I was determined to act.
I was there for two weeks, and despite the continuous filming, I wasn’t called to deliver my role. After a while, the director called me to his room. When we got there, he said, “Pull your clothes.” I was completely lost. At that age, I was very temperamental, and that whole accumulated anger and frustration boiled over. I was furious. I asked for clarification, and he said, “If you are not pulling your clothes, this is a sub-lead role, and we will give it to someone else.” I apologised and told him I could not comply. He started making calls, and I became so upset that I hit him, and he hit me back. We started fighting. He hit me with a bottle and I was bleeding. Thankfully, a popular actor who was a friend of mine arrived with his entourage. They confronted the director, and the production subsequently ended.
What kept you going after such a disastrous encounter with the director? Did you contemplate quitting?
Yes, I quit Nollywood immediately after that experience. I was so angry that I developed a strong hatred for the industry. The whole drama, the trauma, the torture, and the pain, I cried a lot. It was a very bad experience. I made a solemn covenant with God that I would never sleep with anyone in Nollywood to get a role. That covenant has sustained me.
I only returned to the industry in 2012 after I met Adaeze Eluke, the former Miss Calabar Carnival Queen 2010, who is also a significant actor. She was going to film for Uche Nancy, and I asked to go with her, pretending to be her personal assistant. In reality, I was just looking for an opportunity to get back in.
Though I was introduced as her P.A., I sat quietly. This is where the calling comes in: a prominent Nollywood director noticed me. He asked if I had acted before. I told him I had only done stage acting in secondary school and that my attempt in 2008 had ended badly. He immediately encouraged me, saying, “Okay, come and act then.”
He gave me a script. I am very good at rehearsing, so I went to the back and practised my lines. That was the first time I faced the camera since the disastrous encounter with the director, and it was on an Uche Nancy production in 2012. I delivered the role so well that everyone started clapping. Uche Nancy then gave me the script for her next job. Unfortunately, my friend, Adaeze Eluke, became jealous and abandoned me in that village in Oko.
We had travelled together in her car, and even though I had not finished my filming bits, she left. Nollywood can be a very dangerous place; this jealousy is not new. I had never been to Oko before. Back then, there was no POS or accessible ATM, and I was abandoned without cash.
How did you pull through that betrayal?
When she abandoned me, I had to sleep on the ground in the hotel reception. A female artiste who noticed me asked why I was sleeping there. When I explained that my friend had left me, she expressed shock and let me share her bed, as the weather was very cold. I told her I had money in my bank account (ATM card) but nowhere to get cash. She was carrying a lot of physical cash and kindly gave me N5,000.
I managed to find my way back home. Funny enough, I had parked my car at Adaeze Eluke’s house in Enugu. I simply retrieved my car keys, took my belongings, and left. However, while I was preparing for Uche Nancy’s second job my mother got kidnapped.
Kidnapped? What really happened?
My time in Nollywood has been a rollercoaster, but I never gave up. When my mother was kidnapped, I had to leave the industry, even though I was getting calls for jobs. If I hadn’t left then, I believe I would have been more popular today, but God’s timing is best.
I told them it was a matter of life and death. Had I not left, my mother would have died. She was a diabetic patient who was wounded during the ordeal, and the wounds escalated. She spent one year in the hospital, from 2012 to the end of 2013, and almost had her legs amputated. I prioritised her, deciding that Nollywood is something I could always return to as long as the talent was still there.
So, you were not stable after your second return?
I forgot about Nollywood again in 2012 and returned in 2015. That was when I met Yul Edochie while filming the movie ‘The Grave.’ I admired him greatly, but we were not paired together. He was a bigger artist, and I was just starting out, so I simply admired him from afar.
I did a couple of movies, including a cinema movie after an audition, and then I left again in 2015. I was broke and decided to get a job at an oil and construction company. I studied Biochemistry and also have a certificate in Engineering. I had to work very hard because, at the time, Nollywood wasn’t a sustainable source of income.
I worked at the company from 2017 to 2019. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the company downsized, and I was laid off. I had managed to save some money and started thinking about my next steps.
Around that time, I met Lizzy Gold and told her I wanted to return to the industry. She advised me that Nollywood wasn’t easy but suggested I try producing. She introduced me to a producer named Jonas, who helped popularise her career. However, he lost his mother then. I went back to Uche Nancy, and after pleading, she introduced me to another producer who, unfortunately, exploited me financially.
I then relocated to Asaba and started producing my movies. I lost a significant amount of money in the process—this life requires sacrifice. However, I remained consistent and never gave up.
Did you at some point consider going for another 9-to-5 job permanently?
While I worked with Shell, I would constantly have dreams of myself on the red carpet with celebrities like Regina Daniels and Ini Edo, or seeing myself acting. I realised this was a calling, which is why I haven’t left the industry, unlike many others who have come and gone. My only path is to excel.
I am an introvert; I don’t go out to parties or socialise extensively. Yet, people call me for jobs. They even send money without knowing me well, which speaks to trustworthiness. I show up on set, deliver my job without causing stress, and go home. I avoid making friends to keep out of the jealousy and drama.
During that period of pushing, I wasn’t getting paid much in Nollywood; I was surviving on financial support from friends. It is only recently that the financial returns have improved slightly. Unfortunately, just as I was reaching my peak, my mother died.
She never fully enjoyed the money from my career, though I ensured she was comfortable during my time working at Shell. I regret not giving her more attention because she was diabetic. When she would call and say, “Vahh, come, it’s not about money, just come and see me,” I would tell her I needed to chase my dreams, knowing that in Nollywood, if you aren’t present, you’re quickly replaced. I kept pushing until she passed away at 55.
How did you take in her death?
Her death felt like the end of my world. However, after grieving, I had to focus on my survival. It was as if her death twisted my circumstances again; doors started opening. People called me constantly for jobs. I feel like her spirit went ahead of me to open those doors.
What keeps you going in life?
The things that keep me going are God, humility, and my attitude. Some colleagues on set have a poor attitude and demand excessive attention, which makes some producers eventually tired, then they fall back to people like me. Producers appreciate that I am straightforward, I don’t give them stress, and once I’m paid, I deliver my job and leave. I know my earnings are still small, but I am comfortable and managing my expenses accordingly.
