Laura Onyama – “We need love in the movie industry, there’s a lot of hate and jealousy. I think it is not just a movie industry thing it is a Cameroonian thing. Cameroonians don’t love each other” .
KESA Magazine sat down with the gorgeous Cameroonian actress Laura Onyama for a chat. Sure, you are anxious to find out who she is behind the camera and how she has been using her fame in community development. We were also curious on how Laura is dealing with the lose of her dad and some more pertinent issues she is handling. Laura Onyama is now a household name in the Cameroonian movie industry, despite this, we present to you a little introduction about her below;
Laura Onyama Anyeni was born in Buea on the 14th of October 1992. In 2012, she obtained a BSc in Linguistics from the University of Buea. The 28-year old Basossi and Oshie native, started off her career in 2009. She made her first film debut in 2011 staring in the short film “Heavy Rain”, by New Age Entertainment. Laura has featured in many other Cameroonian movies like “Rebel Pilgrim”, “Rumble”, “Kiss of Death”, “Ward Zee” and recently, one of the most talked about movies in Cameroon today, “Saving Mbango”. Laura doesn’t only star in these movies, but she performs as lead actor in most of them which she executes very brilliantly. She has equally won several awards for her remarkable works.
In 2016, Laura won the “Best Cameroonian Actress” at the Ecrans Noirs Film Festival, for her role in the movie “Kiss of Death”. In 2017 she won the “Best Cameroonian Actress” award at the Cameroon International Film Festival (CAMIFF). Again, in 2018, Laura Onyama bagged another major stride in the film industry in Cameroon as she joined the jury for the 22nd edition of the Ecrans Noirs Film Festival. The Ecrans Noirs Film Festival founded in 1997 is a festival aimed to promote cinema in Africa, with juries made up of top film makers from across Africa.
Laura considers acting her passion and full-time career choice. In 2015 she had to quit her job with Orange Cameroon, to concentrate on her acting career. She took the risk, believed in the Cameroon culture and the film industry. Today she is making the headlines in that domain beautifully. Even though Laura Onyama may be the most popular actress in Cameroon today, there’s another side to her a few people ever get to see. We had this interview with her while she laid on a hospital bed recovering from Malaria. We said we could push the interview forward till she fully recovers but she said No KESAmag let’s do this. “It is my pleasure to be interviewed by you guys” (smiling).
KESA EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
KESAmag: Thanks for having us Laura Onyama.
Laura O: Thanks for coming over KESAmag.
KESAmag: Tells us about yourself away from the camera. What is your life like behind the cameras Laura Onyama?
Laura O: My name is Laura Onyama Ayeni and I am just a girl behind the cameras. Away from all the glam and glitz, I am just a girl. My mum is from the North West region, my dad from the South West region, I have two siblings and a host of cousins. That’s just me.
KESAmag: What motivated you to choose acting as a career despite its slow growth and it is not a big income generating sector in Cameroon?
Laura O: I choose acting because growing up I only had an elder brother first. He is 5years older than me. I really did not have a lot of friends around me or people to talk to. I was always alone talking to myself. At a certain age, I realized that a lot of people are like me, a lot of people want their voices to be heard. I thought that through acting I could be the voice of the voiceless I could help to tell people’s stories. I could help spread my culture out there to the world.
KESAmag: Miss Laura as a Cameroonian Actress what will you say are the reasons for the slow growth rate of the movie industry, despite the efforts put in by the film makers?
Laura O: The reason is that we don’t have love. There’s no love in the industry. I mean it is only where there is love that is where you can get unity. So, there’s no love. But I don’t think it is a thing of the movie industry. I think it is a Cameroonian thing generally. Cameroonians don’t love each other. We find it difficult to support each other, to push each other and to hold each other to climb up the ladder. So, if we have love and unity every other thing can add to it.
KESAmag: We have seen a lot of fights in the industry over the years. A lot of jealousy and now the industry seems to be divided into cliques. Fortunately, your name hasn’t been involved in any of the drama. How have you been able to keep yourself away from all the industry fights, cliques and drama?
Laura O: I don’t know if there are any cligues in the industry. I just think people prefer to work with a particular group of people or some particular people which is very normal. If at all there are cliques, I don’t belong to any. I came into the industry as an individual. I didn’t come in a group so there’s no need belonging to a clique.
KESAmag: So how can all the industry drama be put to an end according to you Miss Laura?
Laura O: There is not really much we can do because I think it is a cultural thing. We can fight it by starting to show love, stop the hate, jealousy and all the negative energy. Start thinking positive and supporting each other while working in unity. Once we start getting a lot of projects coming up we will not have time to fight and we will only look at the work.
KESAmag: Now, how do you feel about being famous?
Laura O: Haha, oh well it is an amazing feeling. The best part of it is, you get to inspire others.
KESAmag: Is acting the only thing Miss Laura does for a living?
Laura O: No, I do business hahaha. I do other businesses here and there.
KESAmag: Can we know the type of businesses?
Laura O: Ehmm, NO hahaha
KESAmag: Now we’ve seen you put in a lot of raw emotions in your acting skills. How was shooting “Saving Mbango” to you especially as you had to cut off your hair and go bald?
Laura O: Oh! “Saving Mbango“… Kudos to Lynno Lovert and the bold step Stephanie Tum, Nkanya Nkwai and Julia L. Gham took on the project. Kudos to this beautiful team. From when the script was sent to me, I knew it was that story. This was that story I want to tell. It had to do with stigmatization, ignorance, love I mean those are the things people go through in our society. I mean someone gets sick; he/she is dying but no one cares because of the ignorance of what is happening. Stigmatization comes in and they end up dying. It was easier for me to get into character. It was easier for me to overcome all the challenges the script asked for and go extra miles. I knew it is for a good course, for the story, for the passion and of course for the money (laughs).
KESAmag: We saw you so happy about having your people of Great Soppo show you support by buying tickets. They were massively present during the Saving Mbango screening in Buea. Now how have you equally supported your community to develop Miss Laura Onyama?
Laura O: Oh!! I love you Great Soppo. I love you my Soppo people! Proudly a Soppo pikin. I mean I don’t even know how I can express my happiness. This people show me love on daily basis. It wasn’t just about the premiere in Buea. They show me love on daily basis.
September last year, I came up with “Dream Education”, a back to school program and is supported by Koge Lawson who is based in the US. We choose kids randomly in Buea and Limbe to send to school, pay their fees and get their school needs. I prioritize Soppo because I noticed that GS Great Soppo has almost 300 IDP pupils. They are not able to pay 5,000frs PTA fees so I couldn’t help but prioritize them. I mean those are the little things I do and I’m going to do more. More is coming up trust me.
KESAmag: Is there any role Laura Onyama can’t play in a film?
Laura O: No No! I am as versatile as the word.
KESAmag: Our Condolence on losing your dad Miss Laura. Tell us how have you been able to deal with such a great loss and still be the best in all you do thereafter?
Laura O: My motivation has always been my parents. My father and mother are my biggest fans. My father was the person who accepted me as an actor without judging me from day 1. Unfortunately, he never got to watch any of my movies because he was always away for work and you know our movies are not online like that. Likewise, when I was on the set of “Saving Mbango” he kept calling. He was scared that we were shooting in Mondoni in this crucial period. Everyone on set close to me knew that my father was always calling, to find out if we are safe and okay there. I kept telling him that you’re going to watch this one and you will be so proud of me because daddy we are making magic here. Unfortunately, he died 4 days after I left the set of “Saving Mbango”.
Whenever I remember his words of encouragement, and his zeal to watch me, his push, how he will send me money to get a dress for the red carpet etc., I am like… He certainly wanted this for me and I will push as much as I can because that is the only way I can make him proud. For this particular movie “Saving Mbango”, I promise, every award that I am going to get, I am going to dedicate them to my father. My foundation is coming up as well. It’s in the pipeline. It’s called the “EWAH DUME Foundation” after my father.
KESAmag: What else is in the pipeline for 2020 for Miss Laura? Can you give us more scope on them? Apart from the foundation what more should we be expecting?
Laura O: Yeah there’s more and it is all about work and executing projects. I recently signed a new management deal with Non-stop African Entertainment.
I got a project to do in Rwanda and Saving Mbango is taking us to Morocco this March 2020. It’s all about the movies and other business deals.
KESAMag: What advice can you give to aspiring actresses and actors who look up to you as an inspiration, on getting to your level and more in the sector?
Laura O: I have a few words for them. The words that I used on myself when I got in were; stay humble. Nobody loves an arrogant person; no producer will want to work with you if you are arrogant, so stay humble. Be real, be yourself don’t come and start comparing or copy others just be yourself, be you. Study as much as you can.
This industry is becoming professional and if you don’t know stuff, nobody will want to work with you. There is no favoritism anymore, people go in for the best. Don’t forget to appreciate those who paved the way for you. You see Miss O today because of people who were there before and because of the people who held my hand to climb up the ladder. I didn’t do it on my own above all be God fearing because it is a crazy world out there.
KESAmag: Is there any other thing Miss O would like to tell KESAmag?
Laura O: I love you KESAmag. Thank you for all the love and support.
KESAmag: Thank you too for the time despite your health condition you made this interview possible. We wish you a speedy recovery and all the best.
Laura O. Thank you and welcome!
Also read Movie Review: Saving Mbango Hits Major Strides in Storytelling
