Charlez Blog

According to veteran producer, Charles Novia, Genevieve Nnaji has a secret dirty habit of smoking, which a lot of people didnt know about:

I remember on the third day of recording, one night while shooting at a clinic in Victoria Garden City Extension, I came out fora bit of fresh air while the technical people were setting up for the next scene.

I saw Genevieve in a dark corner of the building, smoking a cigarette. ‘Whoops! You caught me’, she said, laughing. ‘You smoke?’ I asked, a bit surprised. ‘Now and then. It relaxes me ’ she said. ‘Do you smoke?’ ‘Neverhave. Never will. But I don’t have any problems with people who smoke though. But health wise, I hope you stop soon.’ I replied.

‘I am trying to. Sit with me a bit, lets talk about this scene ’ I sat with her and I explained some few things to her about the scene. We also talked about a bit of her stardom and how she was coping with it. She was in a chatty mood and it was a revealing conversation.

That evening, I saw a vulnerability in her, I had never seen before. This young lady, by a dint of her talent, hard work or fortune, had superstardom thrust upon her and seemed to have no private life anymore. She had become one of the most recognizable faces in the continent and whilst enjoying the adulation, she was also coming to terms with the scrutiny of her Privacy, which was not too palatable to her.

I admired her courage and somehow felt that she would go places beyond Nollywood. I remember I told her so. Genevieve was quite particular about make-up. She would spend many minutes, ensuring that her face was well-powdered.