CityPeople Celebrates The Great US Based Actress, Florence Onuma

Her name rings a bell, any day, any time. This is because Florence Onuma has paid her dues. She has been around for about 3 decades, acting and producing great movies. She began from the stage.

A few days ago, this delectable lady of substance spoke to CityPeople Online about her resounding success in the movie industry. Below are excerpts.

Please introduce yourself to us and what you do for a living

My names are Florence Chinyere Onuma. I am an actor, producer, Entrepreneur, An Evangelist, a wife and a mother

How did acting start for you?

I started acting in 1992 after I graduated from the University of Jos in 1991. My first major film was Lies of Destiny produced by Franca Brown in 1994 or so. I'm a graduate of Theatre Arts, University of Jos

You have been acting now for how long?

Technically I have been acting in films for 30yrs. But I was trained on the stage

How challenging has it been sustaining your interest in acting abroad?

Acting abroad is fun but challenging. Is a place where you get a permit to do anything. Most facilities you get easily in Nigeria are difficult to access here. There are no full-time actors cos the acting job is not regular so people do 9 to 5 jobs to pay their bills. Getting them to call off and come to set is a bit cumbersome.  But we keep pushing it to sustain the passion we have for the profession.

Who are those actors you roll with abroad?

In fact, 50% of the known actors are here. I never knew till I started producing here.  We plenty here and I roll well with all of them cos we ate colleagues and we are Nigerians living abroad we gat each other.

Where were you born? Where did you grow up? Which schools did you attend?

I am an Igbo lady from Imo State though born in Port Harcourt. I did my primary school in St Jallaths Bukuru in Plateau State, I started my high school at Gyle Commercial Secondary School in Bukuru, Plateau State but finished at Akabo Girls' Secondary School in Imo state.

I attended Venue Polytechnics where I got a diploma in Law. Then I proceeded to the University of Jos where I got a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre Arts I grew up in the north basically, Jos to be precise.