Actress Stella Damasus has confidently described herself as one of the biggest names in the Nigerian film industry, placing herself alongside two other iconic stars in Nollywood’s golden era.
In a recent interview with Pulse TV, the veteran actress revealed that she, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, and Genevieve Nnaji were widely regarded as the “Big 3” of Nollywood.
“They called us the Big Three — Omotola, Stella and Genevieve. We were very authentic; we weren’t trying to be other people, copy other people, or be who we aren’t. Everything was authentic; we weren’t doing it for fame or money,” Damasus said.
She noted that the absence of social media at the time made it impossible to gauge just how popular they were becoming.
“There was no social media to tell us how big we could get. We didn’t know. After you see yourself on a poster, that’s about it; people may recognise you here or there at that time,” she added.
According to Damasus, what truly set them apart was their shared passion and determination. “You saw young, beautiful, and talented women coming together to do the job with everything they had and so much determination to succeed,” she recalled.
The constant comparisons from fans, she explained, only fuelled their drive to excel. “It brought about a lot of comparisons. Fans who love one more than the others, and we had to keep proving ourselves. So we don’t think we are the weakest. Nobody wanted to be the weakest,” she said.