10-of-10s: 10 Ultimate Nollywood Heroines of the 2010s

I shy away from ranking actors/actresses in any specific order… but one can only run away from their fears for so long, right? The following are the top 10 Nollywood actresses currently in the game in order of talent:

10. FUNKE AKINDELE: She came out of nowhere and took the industry by storm as Jenifa (Suliat kan, Ayetoro kan) in the Yoruba blockbuster ‘JENIFA’! Since then she has been making waves in the industry as a brilliant comic actress.

Why is Funke #10? 

I’ve only ever seen Funke as Jenifa, and in other movies that are not called Jenifa she seems to still be playing ‘Jenifa’ in one way or the other. Without a doubt, her performance in the comedy was hilarious to the point of causing abdominal pain. But not much versatility can be attributed to Mrs. Oloyede

9. OMONI OBOLI: Many still don’t know her name and the face is still unfamiliar to most. This is because Omoni is no Mercy Johnson, she isn’t in every other home video release, neither is she in every other Cinema flick. But the few films she has been involved in have cemented her place in Nollywood as an actress of note

Why is Omoni #9?

Like Funke, I haven’t seen Omoni in that broad an array of movies which is probably because she is selective as an actress and relatively new. However, from Anchor Baby to Guilty Pleasures and Bent Arrows, I have seen more versions of Omoni than I have of Funke.

8. STEPHANIE OKEREKE: Most have forgotten her, or trying to forget her, or about to forget her and I would have as well. Afterall, she hasn’t been in many high quality production of late, exempting the rumored involvement in what appears to have been a joke of a movie called “Doctor Bello“. However, after seeing Mrs. Linus’ fluidity in a recent movie, it’s fair to say that her talent is indisputable

Why is Stephanie #8?

To be honest, we remember the Stephanie of old (especially in that movie where Justus Esiri was her uncle and she was mentally possessed), the fact is Stephanie is a fabulous actress. But in the 2010s, there’s not really much for us to go by especially in the face of new talent doing more, new scripts requiring more, and a breed of new actresses pushing boundaries

7. MERCY JOHNSON: Yes, she hasn’t been in many cinema releases. Yes, she act in anything and everything under the sun. But you can not deny that Mercy is a good actress, infact a fabulous actress.

Why is Mercy #7?

There aren’t many roles under the sun, well under the Nollywood sun, for females that Mercy Johnson has not undertaken and excelled at. In fact, she has also acted near-male roles as a tomboy and killed it. Then why is she number 7? Because she has acted the same roles over and over again, yes the roles are many but each role has been done so many times that she’s not being challenged. And if a person hasn’t been challenged then how do you know that they meet up?

6. STELLA DAMASUS: Stella is fluid. Stella is class. Stella is romance. Stella is a class of her own, a world of her own. Doesn’t exactly play by the same rules as every other actress. Stella is different and an amazing actress too.

Why is Stella #6?

Oh the outrage! How dare you put Stella as number 6? You cannot deny that Stella is an amazing actress but the actresses above her on this list have had more range in the 2010s and have done more work that’s different from the norm than she has. Stella’s norm is crying, sad, depressed, broken hearted, in love, in the 2010s I haven’t seen much of her at all and her prior work was mostly that. Then again I’m yet to see “Two Brides and a Baby” but from the synopsis it seems she’s still one of the above

5. KATE HENSHAW: So we haven’t seen her on the screens very much these days? So what? One cannot deny the talents of Ms. Henshaw. Her fluidity, versatility and general prowess as an actress is near unparalleled in the industry. She is almost underrated as an actress, because not enough people seem to realize her worth and get caught up with paying attention to only the celebrities on the news and Bella Naija.

Why is Kate #5?

I thought about words to describe Kate as an actress and one word kept coming back which is ‘depth’. Kate has tremendous depth as an actress and that makes her stand out.

4. GENEVIEVE NNAJI: She has some how become the face of quintessential Nollywood. She is almost always the name most aspiring actress mention when talking of who they’d like to be like. She’s the Nollywood persona arguably and justly so, Genevieve has been ripping our screens for many years now with her charm and talent.

Why is Genevieve #4?

Genevieve has been in the news so much in 2010s that you’d think that she was possessing the screens these past couple of years, but she hasn’t really been in much except Ije, Tango with me, and Mirror Boy. Her body of work in the years preceding that consisted of things like Bursting Out, Silent Scandals, Felicima, and Sacred Lies which were arguably all the same role. I’m yet to see Mirror Boy and Tango with me, but she was phenomenal in Ije. So why is Genevieve #5? Because the other actors ahead of her on the list seem to have more range.

3. NSE IKPE-ETIM: They call her a silent tsunami, boy they couldn’t be more right. How Nse took over the industry is still a mystery to most people. When Nse is on screen if you blink you’ve missed it. Every single time I watch Mr & Mrs I’m like ‘dayum girl’.

Why is Nse #3?

Nse has no limit. No stop point. No definition. There is no scale that can measure what she can or cannot do. There’s no section that can analyze all her abilities in completion. Nse doesn’t ever act, Nse never gives dialogues, Nse is never on the screen. Whoever Nse is playing is always on the screen.

2. RITA DOMINIC: Somehow she became the fashion symbol in the industry, no one was as fashionable as Rita. Beauty unparalleled, talent unquestionable, Rita Dominic has been an object for many men’s fantasies over the years and I’d like to think her tremendous talent has something to do with it

Why is Rita #2?

Prior to ‘the meeting’ maybe Rita would have been somewhere else on this list as she would have been accused of lack of diversity. But after the meeting? Who dem be? Lest they face the wrath of Clara Ikemba. The versatility of Rita really is in that she can portray Clara Ikemba on one hand and portray a battered woman in Shattered, on the other.

1. OMOTOLA J. EKEINDE: Omosexy is not only a sex icon, mother of four, and wife of a pilot, she is also a fabulous actress. And if you ever felt tempted to question that then you need only look at her eyes. Look at her eyes in Ties that Bind, look at her eyes in IJE, the lady is phenomenal and her eyes alone tell the story.

Why is Omotola #1?

Because omosexy has no limit and she is able to display a wealth of emotions which we’ve seen time and time again. She doesn’t know how to do half and stop, Omotola goes all the way all the time.

Do you agree? How would YOU order them?

Pictures: google images

Next in the 10-of-10s series: 10 Ultimate Ghallywood Heroines of the 2010s

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