Posted by By INNOCENT DURU on
After several failed attempts to pick an acting role at different auditions and another at becoming a model, Tracy Ehisiemen's hope of making a career in kick -boxing has once again crashed.
* says ‘It's because I don't have godfather'
After several failed attempts to pick an acting role at different auditions and another at becoming a model, Tracy Ehisiemen's hope of making a career in kick -boxing has once again crashed.
In a chat with Sunday Sun, the Edo State born actress cum athlete revealed that she has been attempting to break into the make-believe world for the past four years. The best she got so far has remained minor roles in an episode of Super Story and a film titled Jealous Act produced by a United State of America based film producer. Besides these, all her efforts at picking a role in several auditions she has attended have been largely fruitless. She attributed her failures to not having a godfather in the industry.
'I attend auditions at least twice a week. I have done this for a couple of years, all to no avail. What I have discovered is that your ability doesn't count. What counts is the connection you have. Most of my colleagues who had connections have started featuring in films. Since I have known this, I have stopped going for auditions. What I do now is to hang out at Winis, in Surulere, Lagos. There, you have so many actors and actresses having a good time. Since I have been going there, I have started getting intimate with many of them."
In fact, after a failed attempt to pick a movie role, Tracy thought her break through had finally come when she met and signed a two-year contract with Modella for a billboard advert. But like a watchman waiting for the dawn of a new day, she waited and waited for the job that never came. Tired of waiting, Tracy has packed her bags and headed to the office of King George Agency for a possible breakthrough in modeling.
'I signed a two-year modeling contract with Modella. Our agreement was for him to get me a billboard advert. I opted for billboard because I am a bit fleshy. I can't do Runway. Those I have seen doing it are skinny. I have waited on Modella all this while for a job but nothing was forthcoming. I have decided to pitch tent with King George Agency. When I told King George that Modella wasn't able to give me a job, he was surprised because he knows that Modella has what it takes. When it became apparent that her efforts to hit stardom in the entertainment industry was fast becoming a mirage, Tracy who described herself as a 'tomboy", retraced her steps, and started practicing kick-boxing following her coach's advice. The advice seemed to be the magic wand she needed to break through.
In no time now, she has clinched prizes in kickboxing. Her efforts have thus far earned her a ticket to represent Nigeria at a friendly tournament in Ghana. There, she almost paid the supreme price when she, a light-heavy weight fighter, she was given an opponent in the core heavyweight category. At the end of the tournament, she came third. Her journey to meeting the brick wall came when she returned to the country and discovered that a certain amount of money was actually released to foot the bill for the tournament, which she spent good part of her purse to actualize.
'We went by road for the tournament. I spent good part of my money to see that things went well. It was when we returned to the country that we realized that a huge amount, which I will not mention to you, was released for the tournament. Besides, they promised us a paltry N2, 500 for taking part in the tournament but till date, we have not been paid.
'We are not encouraged. There are many bottlenecks here and there. Imagine, after training so hard for All-African Games, they just came and phased out the females' category. I can't make a career in this any longer. They will ever frustrate you. I am only doing it for fitness sake and for the fun of it. I believe I will make headway in the movie and modeling industry. I will never give up. Although it may take time, I a will get there, the 100 level Mass Communication student of LASU concluded.