Uzoamaka Power says her father's view of acting as prostitution made her afraid to chase it
- Uzoamaka Power told the Tea With Tay podcast her father saw acting as prostitution.
- She said he often criticised actresses on screen and wanted her in an office job.
- Power said she always believed she would succeed in acting despite his fears.
Nollywood actress and filmmaker Uzoamaka Power has said her father's low opinion of acting kept her from chasing the career for a long time.
Power, known for her role in The Call of My Life, spoke about this on the Tea With Tay podcast, according to reports by Vanguard and Naija News.
She said her father did not see acting as respectable work. In his eyes, she said, it amounted to prostitution.
That view shaped her childhood. When the family watched films together, her father would complain about the women on screen, asking whether they had parents and how they found time to study at university given what they wore.
Power said she kept quiet about her ambition because of those comments. "With my father, I was cowardly about pursuing my dreams," she said on the podcast.
Why her father worried
Power said she does not hold it against him. She believes he was protecting her and wanted her to have a steady income.
He felt acting could not last and that an office job offered more security, she said.
Even so, Power said she never doubted where she was headed. She described a quiet certainty that she would make it in the profession she loved.
Her father's fears are familiar to many Nigerian families, where creative careers are often weighed against the stability of salaried work.
On being called proud
Power also addressed people who read her confidence as arrogance.
She said she has never seen the point of making herself smaller so that others feel comfortable. She said she knows her strengths and her limits, and is honest with herself about what she can and cannot do and what she is willing to learn.
"If anyone considers that not being humble, I am sorry, I can't," she said.
The interview adds to a growing conversation among Nigerian entertainers about the family pressure behind their career choices.
