I’m my husband’s biggest fan, critic –Joy Ejiro

NOVEMBER 2, 2013 

Joy Ejiro

Joy Chico-Ejiro tells ’Nonye Ben-Nwankwo about her life and how it has been being married to movie director, Chico Ejiro

You used to be a movie producer…

Oh yes. At some point, I had to step aside from movie making because I needed to put my business and my family in order.  Although I was still helping my husband on the set of his soap opera, Treasures, I was not very active. It is not easy travelling around the world getting stuff for my shop, looking after the kids and keeping the home together.

Have you been supportive of his career as a movie producer/director?

I am my husband’s biggest fan and at the same time his biggest critic. Before we got married, I used to go to movie sets with him.  I would complain about the costumes and a lot of other things, he told me to come and work with him since I thought I knew too much. I took up the challenge and we did fantastic movies together. I was serving in Kano then and I was pregnant with our first child, Kome. He is 14 years old now. I took night bus from Kano to Aba, to support him on set.

After a long break, we learnt you produced the soon-to-be-released When Dreams Fall Apart; how was the experience and do we see you producing more movies?

I came on board the set later, after Chico had done the bulk of the job. When I saw the script, I was scared; it required a lot of energy. Most of the time, the lead character, Uche Jombo, was running. The movie is action-packed. I wondered how I was going to cope, so I told Chico I needed to stock my shop and I took off to London and New York. When I came back, he was almost done but I still joined him. I made up by visiting the studio regularly for the post production.

Can we see you in front of the camera anytime?

No! I cannot act! I am not an actress. Initially, a lot of people thought I was dating Chico because I wanted to be an actress. Now they can see it is not true.

How come you have never acted?

I did a couple of extra (waka pass) in Silent Night 3 and Daybreak. It was a disaster. I watched myself and I told myself that I’m not an actress and I should maintain my position behind the camera. Since then, it has been amazing. I know a lot about movie making now.

What’s your passion, clothing people or movies?

I’m passionate about making movies and clothing people. It’s easy for me to clothe people at the same time make movies because most of the movies I produce, I also clothe and style the actors.

What prompted the decision to become a clothier?

It was very difficult to get fashion houses or boutique to assist us with costumes for the movies then because the industry was so young. People did not take us serious, they did not believe in what we were doing then. I could remember a few supported because of my name.  I eventually got tired of telling stories and begging from one fashion house/ boutique to another. So when my brother- in- law,  Zeb Ejiro, gave me the job of a costumier in his movie Sakobi the Snake Girl, I told Chico I wanted to open a boutique where I would sell clothes and at the same time get clothes for my costume job. Interestingly, he bought the idea. On the set of Sakobi, I told Zeb about opening a shop and he said yes, and he suggested I call the boutique Real Colours because he said my costumes are usually beautiful and colourful. So that was how I became a clothier.

Celebrities’ marriages don’t work out; how have you been able to manage yours?

It  takes only the grace and mercy of God for marriages to work. Mine has been this long because Chico and I are best of friends from the beginning even before we got married. We talk a lot on the phone, in the car and even at home. In fact, I call him my amebo partner and we do a lot of things together. We do quarrel but we make up fast. We see ourselves as friends, very good friends and we have leant to tolerate each other and overlook a lot of irrelevant issues.

Why did you agree to marry somebody in the movie industry?

When I met Chico, I didn’t know he was a movie director. I didn’t know a lot about Nollywood. Then, he was a director in Mega Fortunes, a TV series. But marriages break up every day for different reasons. Like I said, it takes the grace of God to keep a marriage. It is not by power. It is not only in Nollywood but everywhere. Chico and I are very close friends, so it makes it easy. Chico is a very understanding and easy going man. He doesn’t like trouble, so he usually avoids my wahala while I also do not take him for granted because he can be very difficult. When he says no, I readjust and ‘maintain’. It’s all about understanding and the grace of God.

Are there times you wish you shouldn’t have married someone who is not in the eyes of the public?

No.

Do you get worried or jealous of the actresses your husband meets in the line of his duty?       

I don’t get jealous or worried. Before each movie production, there is a production meeting where we decide on the cast of the movie. We try to get the best person to fit each role and I am always involved in the decision making. I understand this business and I know we have to get the best person for the job. I have a good relationship with all the A-list actors and actresses and some of the up and coming ones.  We work as a family and they are very professional, so there is no room for jealousy or worry.

Do you think some actresses try to ‘seduce’ your husband in order to get movie roles?

 No. Most of the lead role actors in my husband’s movies are not decided by just one person but a group of people, including me. So, the roles are based on merit and professionalism.

You wear dreadlocks; is it by choice or design?

Yes, it is by choice. I got tired of going to the salon to fix hair extension every two weeks. I lived in Festac Town then and the salon I used was at Ikeja and I just had my first baby. The whole process was too stressful, so I woke up one morning and cut my hair then I started locking it till date.

Tell us about growing up.

Growing up was fun. I grew up with my six brothers and three sisters in Benin City, Edo State. My mother has 10 kids and I’m number eight in the family. Being the youngest girl, I was made to do most of the house chores and I received enough slaps and knocks from my elder siblings for misbehaviour. Looking back, I’m so happy because I had a solid foundation in a very close knit family and it helped me to be the strong, hard- working woman that I am today.

How has it been combining motherhood and business?

It has been tough but I thank God everyday for His grace, mercy and strength. My first son and my only daughter are in secondary school while my third child is in the primary school and my baby in nursery school. I live in Lekki and my shop is in Surulere but I drive to the shop everyday to do my business and I am home on time to help the kids with their homework, settle quarrels and make sure they go to bed on time. I have a nanny that helps out when I am not home. I travel whenever I need to stock my shop and I call daily to catch up on their day-to-day activities. Chico is very helpful and very supportive; he loves going to the market to get foodstuff for the house. My husband is one the best cooks in the world and I am not joking. Sometimes, he serves me breakfast in bed when I am so tired. My husband is my right eye and he has taken his time to understand me like nobody else in the world.