Nollywood actress Diva Gold has shared the inspiring story of how she broke into the movie industry, detailing her journey from modelling to video vixen, skit-making, and eventually landing her first major acting role.
In a candid interview on the Conversations With Kenni podcast hosted by Kehinde Ajose, the actress traced her passion for performing back to her childhood.
“I got into Nollywood because I love storytelling. I love to act right from when I was younger, even though I never thought I’d be an actress.”
She began her entertainment career as a model while studying at Bowen University, taking on magazine covers, billboard adverts, and runway shows. When modelling opportunities slowed down, she transitioned into video vixen work and featured in about fifty videos. However, uncomfortable experiences in that space led her to take a break.
“I’d leave school to do magazine covers, billboard adverts, and runways. When gigs with modeling reduced, I became a video vixen where I shot about fifty videos. When it started coming with advances that I didn’t like, like an artist wanting to sleep with the vixen, or wanting me to wear clothes I wasn’t comfortable wearing, I decided to drop that and take a break.”
Her entry into skit-making happened almost by chance. While squatting with a friend, she reshared a video on her story, which caught the attention of the author who invited her for a shoot. That marked the beginning of her skit-making journey.
“I was squatting with my friend one day when I saw a video pop up. I reshared it to my story and he told me to come for a shoot and that was how it started. I was just doing skits and even then I still didn’t know if I wanted to be an actress.”
Her big break into acting came when a friend specifically needed a female actress for a film but wanted a fresh face instead of established Nollywood actresses.
“A friend of mine called me and said he wanted a female actor but he didn’t want the Nollywood faces. He wanted a skitmaker… He actually called me because we had earlier worked on a series together… Although they said skitmakers don’t make good actors, he made a case for me, I went, and that was how my acting career started from that particular film.”
On why she gradually slowed down on skits to focus more on movies, Diva Gold cited repeated setbacks in skit production despite heavy personal investment.
“I started doing more movies than skits as demand for my work in movies rose. To be honest, I didn’t want to stop skitmaking but I got disappointed several times with videographers missing my files after so many resources had been invested, improper editing like sound problems… I kept spending money without a sponsor and not getting any returns. That was tiring and so I slowed down and movie roles started coming in at that point so I didn’t even have time for skits anymore.”