EX Actress, Anita Hogan Speaks About Her Career, Dutch Husband & Nude Photos

My take on competition

I
am not participating in any competition. A lot of people come into the
industry with that mentality. You have to carve your own niche. You make
your contribution to the development of the industry. In the process,
you will not look at what other people are doing. Of course, this is a
money-making business and a producer always wants to use a ‘marketable’
face in his movie. The way it is, I don’t even need to inform any
producer or director that I am back in the industry. People should be
the one calling me and asking me about my new project and wanting to be a
part of it.

My new project

It is a television soap opera that I have titled Koko’s Diary.
I looked at the society from the diary of a house maid. I have finished
shooting the series. I have completed work on one season, but I am not
satisfied. I want to do more. I have a time schedule and I have been
advised to add more. I love what I have done so far. For casting, I used
fresh faces. I didn’t even play the lead role. One girl called Lola
played that role. She has very unique features. She was very flexible on
the set.

My marriage

I
am married to a foreigner. I had to blend into his culture in order not
to suffer from culture shock. I had to learn the language and I took
the integration exam. Now I speak Dutch very well. I am very comfortable
with the language. I go wherever my husband goes. I am not the type
that says we should live apart. No matter how much money I have, I want
my family to live under one roof. There is nothing unique about marrying
a foreigner. He is just like every other man. It is not that I have
always dated a foreigner. I had dated Nigerian men and other Africans.
Men will always be men, no matter the colour of their skin, origin or
physical features. If a man needs attention, you will give him the
attention. A man’s needs are the same everywhere. Now, my home is
Holland. I have to be very partial. That is where I want my children to
grow up. Education in Holland is free and it is standard. There are no
separate schools for the rich or the poor. I bring my children home
often. I want them to know their African background.

Why my marriage has survived

I
am not going to compare my marriage with that of my colleagues whose
marriages broke up. Nobody prays to have a broken marriage. No woman
wishes to get married and watch it break up after some years. I don’t
make fun of situations that I don’t even understand. In my own case, it
is just God that has sustained my marriage. I might sound old fashioned,
but it is just God that has done it for me. He knows everybody. In
every challenging situation, He will always tell you what to do. I read
all books about marriage, but it doesn’t work that way. You have to go
into a marriage with an open mind and then make the best situation out
of anything you see in it.

The nude picture scandal

The
scandal happened some years back. Life is all about challenges. I
learnt that one does not have to run away from anything that is thrown
at him. If you run, the challenge will still be there. On the night that
the pictures were published, four popular actors came to my house with a
car and said I should pack my things and go to Ghana. They said I
should stay there until the crisis died down. But I told them I wasn’t
going to run. I didn’t do anything wrong, so why should I run? I didn’t
kill anybody. I am not a criminal. Many politicians are stealing our
money and making a mess of our country, yet they come out with bold
faces. So why should I run? Somebody offended me and you want me to run?
The actors were shocked with what I was saying. I told them I wasn’t
going to run and that all I needed was their prayers. I don’t think I
know where that courage came from, but I think my father’s spirit was
with me. My father told me he loved me. I am tough. I had to practice
what I preached. A lot of people thought that crisis would break my
toughness. You can bring me down, but you can’t break me. You are not my
creator. My life is in the hands of God. It was just God that gave me
the strength.

How my family and friends reacted to the scandal