In this no-holds-bar interview with The Entertainer, Mrs. Uche Jombo-Rodriguez finally addresses the rumour of dating a younger man. She indeed goes full throttle. It’s a Sunday Jombo package. Enjoy it.
You are gradually working your way to becoming not just a prolific producer but also an impressive one. From Mrs. Somebody to Damaged, to Misplaced and now False and Lies Men Tell, you are already carving an ideal place for yourself, what informs the transition?
First of all, I have always known right from time that I was going to eventually start investing on Nollywood. I’ve lost money, at the beginning I wouldn’t understand how these things were done. In a normal world, that was supposed to discourage me, but it didn’t. I remember I started attending auditions; I started working on myself as an actor. My first production was Nollywood Hustler, where I was laughing my heart off. It was a good laugh about how we make movies and how far we’ve come. I knew the films I wanted to do and I wanted to first laugh so that we can get into the serious production like Holding Hope and the rest and then mix it with drama. To me it’s just growth, what I know I planned right from time was to do the films I wanted to watch, I don’t care if the story is with me for two years, if I don’t like it, I won’t film it.
Eleven films and still counting, are you so prolific?
I don’t want to use the word ‘prolific’. But I will like to use the word ‘passion’ because I like to be seen as a passionate filmmaker because sometimes there is so
much I want to do, but I’m not able to do it. Sometimes if it’s all about the work, you will get discouraged if that passion part of it doesn’t come into play because it matters more to me to have a good title than to have just any title. There was a day one of my ministry members asked me about a film I told them we were going to work on. I told them that I wasn’t feeling that story yet and I’m not even in that particular production. I told them the two actresses I’m using for the set called me to know what is happening, and I said their suggestions are welcomed if they have any because I think I have over-stretched my brain as much as I can but I still don’t feel it.
It matters to me what I put my name on. I might not be perfect, but I want my growth as a filmmaker to show as I keep producing the kind of films I want to watch. I don’t want to have one of the best films two years ago and shooting the worst film this year. It doesn’t show growth and consistency, and if there is anything I was good at as an actress, it is consistency. I was at it for years and so I should know and I won’t compromise on that.
Let’s talk about these three movies; Misplaced, False and Lies Men Tell, what distinguishes them?
The movie, False will be out tomorrow (Monday) while Lies Men Tell would be released soon. Misplaced was out a while ago. What distinct them is that they are all human stories. I wanted to do a story that if it doesn’t happen to you directly it will speak to one or two people who are around you when you are watching it. We have so much that there is no need copying the Oyinbos so to speak. Luckily for us, we are cultured, we don’t have to dream up super heroes films to keep working. We have culture, so we can always base stories on ourselves as a people because first of all, that is what brought Nollywood to the center stage. I just want to do more of human stories, stories that can speak more to me directly, I don’t care if it’s one-man or 40-man cast, if it’s a story that is speaking to me directly, I will do it.
If your husband were to be a philanderer like Desmond Elliot in Lies Men Tell, would you react that way?
I will castrate him; believe me! To me, there is no excuse to cheat. It’s either you are with someone or not. And if you are tired of such person, please accord the decency of respecting who they are and their feelings, don’t go making someone look stupid because there is no excuse. The problem with me is there are no in- betweens,
Do you believe in what you are saying or you are just saying it for the purpose of the interview?
I am saying I, Uche Jombo Rodrigues, don’t have in-between. So, that is why it takes me long time to make a decision or take a stand on something. And if I am to take on someone, we have to meet somewhere. There is no excuse not to honour an agreement you have made. This doesn’t have anything to do with the interview; it has to do with the principle that guides me. It is not just about marriage, it is also about how I conduct relationships. It’s either it is this or that. If that is my thinking in a relationship, then you should know that for marriage it’s 150%, that there is no room for cheating.
So you believe that your husband will or should not cheat on you?
I don’t have control over what someone will do. I’m not God. I’m talking about me now, how I conduct things. So, I thought the question is about me. It’s not an option that it will happen; I will not tolerate cheating.
Are you saying you will not forgive the man who cheats on you and is manly enough to say sorry?
(Laugher) If you are in that situation Sam, oh God, you are going to slave for me for life. And do you know any man that will want to slave for a woman for life? Answer.
Let me turn the table, does that mean you can never cheat? Of course, your marriage is still young and love is still ‘shacking’ so you have not cheated yet?
Let me put it this way, I didn’t get married when I was young and stupid and I could believe almost everything. It took me a while to find someone who I thought was my soul mate.
Have you called off a relationship because of cheating?
Do you mean my past relationships? Isn’t that the only reason people quit relationship? Are you trying to go somewhere with this question? Because it sounds to me like you are.
I’m trying not to go anywhere. I like the analysis, but you know…?
I have and I will. Sometimes, you have to give interviews and you have to hold yourself not to say things that people will not understand. I’m not a feminist; I am just an extremist. If we are in this, we are in this together. And if we are not, we are not; there is no in-betweens with me. I think life is too short for someone not to be happy. If a guy isn’t happy in a relationship, he can take-off, likewise the lady. You don’t have to live your life for anyone and if cheating is the reason why you keep having problems, get your ass up and go and be happy. That’s all.
There was a particular relationship you had that people actually feasted on, was cheating the major reason? And were both of you compatible because people said money was actually the reason you said ‘yes’ to that particular person, that you were older than him and stuff like that?
I have never dated or married someone I was older than in my life. So, if you have the illusion of someone’s age, that is your business, and I am even too mature for my age. And that is the problem because men of my age are small boys around me; I can’t date them. I am someone who had to become a mother to some of my siblings at the age of 14. So, I don’t know where the rumour came from. Because you are an under-achiever does not mean I should play down on my achievement. That age factor for you or a yardstick for you to succeed should not mean you should judge people with it, and I don’t have an apology. I will continue to try to do what I need to do and to try to work harder as a person to be ahead, and if I’m learning from people who are older than me that is because I don’t hang out with my age mate. Because I don’t think there is anything else you want to teach me, and if you want to judge me by the people I hang out with or by when I started my hustle, where the hell were you at that time? What really matters to me is that people that knew me during my not-too-proud days are so proud that this is me now. I have come far; it’s something I’m grateful for. I couldn’t have even written it better if it was a story because if you tap my mum now and ask her ‘what are you most grateful for’, she will say Uche Obi because I was one of those kids that if you wake up my mum from sleep and ask ‘which of your children will land you in police station? She would say it’s me. ‘Which of your kids would come home with teenage pregnancy? It will be me.
At a point I felt that it’s about time I started talking about that part of my life to encourage teenagers. There was a time someone tried to blackmail me to the press, asking me to pay some money into a Zenith Bank
account, and that if I refused to cooperate, he would tell the press I ran away from home at age 16. I said ‘bros, first of all, N200,000 is small money if you want to blackmail someone’. ‘Secondly, if you want to tell the press a story, can you do it with the right date, time and age?’ I didn’t run away from home at 16, it was at 14. Now which of these people’s number do you need to confirm it because if at some point I have ever given you a reason that I was ashamed of my past, because that is why I’m here. If I didn’t go through that, I wouldn’t have arrived here. So, I told him ‘when next you are calling my phone, let it be because you want the press numbers, if not, you are dialing the wrong number’.
Why did you leave home at 14?
Tragedy happened in the family and I just didn’t want to be boxed into the corner. There were things I felt I couldn’t let situation define where I was headed. It was a tragedy that turned out to be a wake-up call for me because without that, I think I was heading to self-destructive path.
So, your leaving home was a turning point for you?
Yes, it was. Because at that point you not only wished you wanted to become an adult but also needed support.
Where did you run?
I stole my uncle’s address from my mum, without her knowing. My uncle was living in Lagos.
I thought the story was that you ran to live with a man?
(Laughs) I didn’t even know a man at that time. The man I knew then we were more like a cupboard love. Back then no man dared cross my way because I was a complete tomboy. I was running away from a situation, it wasn’t about me as a person so to speak. I just didn’t want to be placed where I saw my future going so, I felt this uncle of mine didn’t know much about my miscreant ways, I decided to begin a new life with him.
Who paid your school fees?
He did pay for the first two years in the university, and then I paid the remaining.
You have started working then?
Yes, at the first AMEN Award, I did marketing; I’ve always been a hustler. I went to my uncle who gave the interview when we did Mother’s Fight for a job, but he declined because I was still schooling. Then I saw a jingle that they were planning on his table and I told him I could do it because being part of the marketing team of AMEN made me come across some artistes in Nollywood. He gave me the jingle to do out of guilt for not given me a job. That was where I made my first million and bought my first car while I was still in school.
What prompted the use of celebrity kids in the movie, Unconditional?
Well, (Julius) Agahowa’s daughter has always wanted to act since she was five-years-old. She is 11 now and this is her first movie. Using celebrity kids wasn’t my intention because we had series of auditions and I told everyone I knew the age I wanted apart from Isabella Aghahowa who is playing a dual role as twins. The first time she was supposed to work with me, I didn’t start before she left for England. Godsgirl was subjected to audition and we started coaching her on how we wanted the character to speak, while Tuface’s daughter is such a drama queen. They are all wonderful.
Are you paying the kids for their roles in Unconditional?
Of course I am. They are in my budget. I don’t want to look at it as if I’m doing anybody a favour or anybody is doing me a favour. If you want them to take it serious, you have to make it look like work for them, and also re-emphasize on the money.
Who are the other cast members in this movie?
There are Ruth Kadiri, Annie Idibia, Chika Chukwu, Boy Alinco, and Lepacious Bose. The film was directed by Onyeka Chukwu.
Where is your husband from?
He is from New York City, born in Brooklyn.
When are you planning to have a baby?
Well, we are still on it… I’m planning it day-in-day-out.
What are your plans for the future?
It’s to continue with what I know how to do best, that is acting and producing.
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