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One of Africa's gems Edewor has eye on Hollywood

talented: Eku Edewor
talented: Eku Edewor

WHEN the Channel O Africa Music Awards bash rolls into town next month, Africa will be introduced to a new power player in the game.

Her name is Eku Edewor. She was born in London and raised in Nigeria and has lived most of her life on different continents, but remains grounded as an African.

Edewor, 24, sits across me in her suite at Sandton's Radisson Blu Hotel with the sprawling Joburg metropolis in the background.

She is here to record skits and snippets that would be part of the glamourous production at Nasrec Expo Centre.

She looks familiar to some that's because she was one of the presenters on Big Brother Africa All Stars. She is now set to show off her talent as a co-host of the awards with Siyabonga Ngwekazi.

Edewor started out in the industry as a contestant on British Top Model. "I was obsessed with America's Top Model," she says about the reality TV show. So she just had to be part of the British version as an 18-year-old wannabe. She didn't make it to the finals and was "devastated".

"I didn't enjoy the experience of modelling because it is so intense and competitive," she says, adding that she developed a thick skin from the reality show.

A few years later she worked as a production assistant in London, taking care of guests coming to record shows.

"That's how I met Naomie," she says of meeting Long Walk To Freedom movie star Naomie Harris.

"We're like sisters and share similar things. I'm a very personable person, so that made it easy for us to get along."

Their relationship is so good that she even invited Harris to Nigeria and their friendship motivates her to grow in her acting career.

In 2008 she graduated from Warwick University in England with honours in English literature and theatre studies. The following year, she went to the US and completed a three-month acting course for film at the New York Film Academy.

Edewor currently lives alone in Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria, though she does visit her mother often because "it's unusual for a woman to live alone if she's unmarried", she says.

She grew up in Apapa, Lagos, where her mother lives, and has featured on 53 Extra, the glamour magazine show on M-Net.

Years later after proving her worth in her country she landed a bigger gig on Big Brother Africa All Stars.

"I'm excited because this feels like a bigger stage," she says about working with Ngwekazi. "Not only Nigerians will be watching but the whole of Africa. "

Edewor is planning to go to the US next year to cut it out as a Hollywood actress. "I've got a manager that side and I'll go there to shoot some pilot episodes and do some auditions," she says.

Currently she is completing a movie. "I'm left with one shoot for the movie The Rules Of Making Money, which is due for release next year."

All eyes will be on one of Africa's finest find and here's to hoping to see more of her on both the small and big screens.

 

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