Screen actress Amanda Oruh has shared the struggles she faced in securing acting roles, revealing that she spent many years battling rejections and uncertainty in her career.
Oruh, who plays the character Pinky in the hit film Lady, said she spent nearly a decade striving for a breakthrough as a performer.
“Ten years of auditions, rejections, months without work, wondering if I was delusional for believing this could happen,” she reflected.
Her persistence finally bore fruit when Lady had its European premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, where the film was met with a standing ovation.
“I watched myself as Pinky on that screen, and I cried. Not pretty tears, the kind that come from somewhere deep, where you’ve been holding pain and hope in equal measure for too long,” Oruh said.
She added, “Standing on that stage with my castmates and looking out at faces from all over the world, who came to see this story about Lagos women, I felt it. This is why I didn’t quit.”
The film, a UK–Nigerian co-production, explores the lives of women in Lagos, highlighting their struggles, survival, and sisterhood.
Earlier this year, the ensemble cast of Lady was honoured with the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting Ensemble at the Sundance Film Festival.
