Slim built but light skinned mother of one, Liz
Ajorin, may not be an actress who is regularly
seen on the movie jackets, but she sure has a
face and name in the movie industry. The
Badagry-born thespian, who is an orphan, is
sure doing well for herself and she’s attaining
greater heights not only as an actor but also as
producer with a number of movies in her kitty.
The producer of popular movie, ‘Kofo Tinu-
bu’, fielded questions from The Entertainer, as
she expressed fears about being a single
mother and her wish to conquer it. She also
spoke about her new flick, ‘Kofo the First
Lady’, and why she does not appear in all
movies. Enjoy it:
How fulfilling was 2013 for you as an
actress?
It was a beautiful year, a good year. Last year,
I achieved some things, shot multimillion naira
movies but above all I am thankful for good
health, because that is the most important
thing. When you have good health its then you
can begin to talk of money and every other
thing that follows. So, I am grateful to God for
giving me good health in 2013. Last year was a
wonderful one for me.
What are your projections for this New
Year?
Yeah, I have a lot of projects at hand for this
year. Firstly, I pray God grants me good health
and secondly, on top on my list is the
premiere of my movie, ‘Kofo the First Lady’ on
April 6. Also, I intend to take my business to
the next level and probably adjust or perfect
certain things I feel I did not do properly in
the year 2013.
You did a movie, ‘Kofo Tinubu’, which is
centered on a great woman and the latest one,
‘Kofo the First Lady’ seems to be a similar
thing. What inspired you to do this kind of
movie?
What inspired me to this story line is that
people don’t really see any potential in the
physically challenged or special people. In
Nigeria when you are chal- lenged, people tend
to believe you are useless and that you cannot
do anything. But to me, being physically
challenged
is not being mentally affected, because these
people can actually do a lot of things if we can
give them support and show them love. That is
why I did ‘Kofo Tinubu’. In ‘Kofo the First
Lady’, Kofo is an adult and not a child unlike
in ‘Kofo Tinubu’ so, what we are driving at
here is that since the challenged person
cannot be elected, they could be fortunate to
find themselves in the status of a First Lady
and the likes, and also we try to show how
determined these people could be since they
are aware of societal dispo- sition towards
them.
So what are you going to do dif- ferently
from the premiere we have seen?
We are really going to entertain people, it’s
going to be a buffet; people are going to enjoy
themselves. Also, all my old movies will be
made available and we are going to show them
from A to Z. It won’t be a situation where they
will come for a premiere and they can barely
view the movie. Very important people from
all walks of life are equally going to be present,
it’s basically going to be fun filled premiere
and launch where lov- ers of my works can
actually encourage me to do other mind
blowing movies.
One would have expected you to have a
Foundation to care for the special ones since
you believe in them?
Of course, we do have Liz Anjorin Foundation,
and it’s going to be launched alongside the
movie in April. We have been moving from
school to school to identify and lend our
support to these special kids in the little way
we can.
But we have other interesting packages for
them, therefore we need to solicit support so
we can get these things done, and these
children will feel and know that they are not
isolated but part of the society.
You don’t appear in other produc- tions but
virtually your own movies, what is
responsible for this?
What happens is that pirates are kill- ing our
works. When a producer invites you to do a
job for free and says that he will give you
money for fuel, by this you start appearing in
films and at the end of the day, you don’t have
anything to show for it. It’s the same set of
people that will later say ‘look at Liz , there is
nothing for her again and stuffs like that’.
And being the kind of person I am, I have
always known how to arrange and do my
things in a way that my status will not drop, so
I know I have to give much time to my
business and the remaining to the film
industry. I still do my acting…for instance, I
have been to about nine loca- tions in January,
but by March, I may decide not to honour any
invitation to any location because that could
be when I will have to travel for my business
so, it’s in and out thing.
Some say our movies are not good, the
locations are not worth it, they can predict
what will happen in our films and by this they
say they prefer films in other languages, but
the question is where and how do we get
money to do all these when we don’t get all we
spend on a job let alone make profit?
That is why I decided to face my business
squarely so I can get the resources to shoot
good films. I love good things and there is no
way I can measure up if I don’t work hard.
Another thing is that I don’t believe in ap-
pearing in all movies doing the same thing,
because it will get to a stage when the
producers will get tired of you and they will
feel there is nothing special about you
anymore. If it’s three or five solid scripts I can
get to interpret in a year, I’ll
do it well and my value remains evergreen.
Producers of Yoruba movies are beginning
to embrace obscenities like in Ghana. As a
producer, what do you think of it?
Different people with different opin- ions and
ideas, so I don’t have much to say concerning
that because it’s their own idea and story. You
see, people who are watching our movies are
not stupid; they know what to take home and
what not to take near their homes because
we are people with culture and values. Tunde
Kelani is respected today because of his works,
after all, he was not the only producer when
he started earning peoples’ respect, and we see
how high he’s still being held, it’s because he
knows the right thing to do. If someone says
she wants to shoot a movie with pants and
bras alone, so be it, but I won’t condemn
anyone because I am also not perfect.
How do you react when you read a story you
consider not pleasant?
(Mild laughter) Before I used to worry but now
I don’t bother anymore. Either good or bad, it
doesn’t bother me.
What good thing would you say acting has
done for you?
Acting has no doubt brought me fame. People
now recognize me even in the crowd, it has
also made people to respect and of course love
me.
I read it somewhere last year that you would
be getting married soon but nothing suggests
you are think- ing about that now?
Don’t mind that. I think someone wrote a story
along that line when I went to an event and
they said my attire looked like that of a bride,
maybe it’s the person that wrote the story that
wants to kiss the bride (laughs).
It has now become a trend for ladies especially
actresses to want to remain single
after having a child or two out of wedlock, and
more so, when they are finan- cially comfort-
able. Is it the same thing with you?
My belief is that as a single mother you still
need a man. The kid or kids also need a man,
either their father or stepfather, someone to
tell them you are my daughter, you are my son
and I don’t want this or that. It’s true that
being single is so sweet and inter- esting but as
a woman a time will come when age will tell
and the whole thing will clear off.
If you want to remain single or something, it
will get to a stage that loneliness will set in
because by that time the children would have
grown and gone. In my own case, I don’t love
to be a single mother, so I will surely settle
down with a man, it’s just the time so I won’t
rush out when I go in. If you think you want to
remain single because of the freedom you
enjoy, the freedom will turn to another thing
when the time comes.
Is there the likelihood that you will marry this
year?
If God says so, no problem but there are no
plans for that now. I believe there is time for
everything and I am an advocate of being
happy always,
so I am happy right now and when the time
comes for that I won’t hesitate to embrace it
and be happy.
What changes has your conver- sion to Islam
effected in you?
Let me start like this, people have been saying
different things since they learnt
I went to Hajj, but the issue is that I also have
a Muslim background because my mum was a
Muslim. Besides, whoever have seen me go
worship in a church in the last fifteen years
should come and say it. Going to Hajj is one
thing I decided when my mother died because
I love my mum so much.
Islam is not what I just woke up to embrace
even though my father was a Christian and my
name is Elizabeth. Now to your question, there
is nothing serious that has changed about me
other than the fact that I am being careful with
what I do. I respect myself and the fact that I
am an Alhaja because people are watching and
waiting to crucify me.
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