By Rita Okoye
Despite relocating to Canada, actress and filmmaker, Amandla Ebeye formerly known as Amanda Ebeye, has continued to soar in Nollywood.
In this interview, Ebeye, who has found love again, opened up on life as an actor, wife and mother. She also revealed the reasons behind her name change. Here are excerpts:
You were formerly known as Amanda, why the name change to Amandla?
I’ll attribute it to knowledge of self. Amanda is a Latin word that means ‘loveable’. I’m not Latin; my dad is Agbor and my mom is Yoruba. I am a proud Nigerian; I truly have no business bearing Amanda. But for colonial reasons, there is no way I should bear a white man’s name. How many of them bear our names? At first, I thought of Chimamanda but we all know a popular African woman who goes by that name. So, I said ‘no, it will look like I copied’. Later, I read somewhere that she put the name together herself. At that point, I just ran. And I badly wanted something close to my birth name, which will be easy for people to adapt. And then I found Amandla. Amandla is a Xhosa and Zulu name meaning ‘power’. It was a very popular chant used during Nelson Mandela’s fight against apartheid. I said ‘okay, that’s my name right there’.
So, now how do you want to be addressed?
My name is Amandla Ebeye.
As a seasoned filmmaker, don’t you think this would affect your past productions?
Oh well, Amanda and Amandla are not far apart. It’s just the letter ‘L’. If anyone calls me Amanda, I’ll still answer. I’m not going to ignore it but my name now is Amandla Ebeye.
Can you tell us more about this new personality?
This new personality! I like that. I’m still me. I stand for the things I’ve always stood for, and I represent things I have always represented. From the kind of series I have produced in the past, it’s obvious I have always stood for culture, and loved it. But maybe, it’s got deeper into my skin.
How’s married life treating you?
Married life is good; I mean we have been sailing the boat for close to two years and I love it. I have been happily married for almost two years now.
What has Amandla been up to lately?
We have not been sleeping. We’ve been busy editing a new series I just released, 30s Single and Bored. You can catch it at 9pm on Africa Magic Showcase on Tuesdays; repeats are on Saturdays at 5:30pm. It’s also streaming on Showmax.
How has relocating abroad affected your acting career?
I won’t say I have relocated here completely, but in a way, you are correct. Being more away has helped me make better choices of not being in every movie. I love acting passionately, but I love being a mom and a wife too. When I am present for my family then I’ll be excited to be on set. So, being here has given me the freedom to choose things I want to be part of. I won’t say it impacted my career in any sort of way because whatever happened, I allowed it to happen.
Don’t you think you are missing out in Nigeria because there are lots of new faces taking over the industry?
I know. I see them and I am so proud. That’s life; everything has its season and overtaking is allowed. I’ve seen so many great movies from Nigeria and I’m like ‘what?’ A series like Shanty Town, even my son started imitating Scar. It was that good and I’m proud of it. But no, I don’t feel like I’m missing anything.
Okay, what do you miss most about Nigeria?
When I’m not in Nigeria, all I miss are the food, the happy people. That’s all.
What else do you do aside acting?
I do business with my mom; we own shops. And it’s a pretty long chain of shops.
Have you ever been a victim of racism?
To be honest, the nicest people I have met are from here (Canada). I honestly have never experienced racism here. And that’s the truth. The only time I was racially profiled was in a shop in the UK. The attendant was so rude and condescending, I just called her out and walked away. I think Europe is racist to Africans naturally; it’s always subtly embedded somewhere.
Lastly, how would you compare movie making in Canada and Nigeria?
The Nigerian movie industry is way more advanced than the Canadian movie industry. How many blockbusters have you heard come out from Canada? Canada is not America; their movie industry has not fully developed, it’s still coming up. So, I love to come back home and shoot my films.