Clarion Chukwura emerges highest paid actress for role as Patience Jonathan’s mom in Apaye biopic

In late 2013, veteran actress Clarion Chukwura was specially picked by female producer and founder of Royal Arts Academy, Emem Isong to play the role of Yepayeye in the high budgeted film entitled, Apaye (A Mother’s Love). Reliable sources have disclosed to us that the role gave Clarion and opportunity to become the highest paid actress in Nollywood in a particular epoch, as she pocketed N10million for the role. Apaye, still in Silverbird Cinema is a true life story on the life of a spectacular woman, (Dame Patience Jonathan’s late foster mother), who against all odds, fearlessly and uncompromisingly battled her way to success.

According to the information made available to us, Apaye is the most expensive and highest budget film in Nollywood so far. As gathered, the star Akwa-Ibom born filmmaker, Ms Isong was commissioned with the sum of N55million to produce the movie. This is because, Apaye is an outstanding film that tells the story of a woman who touched many people’s lives, despite making wrong choices at the initial stage of her life by marrying a man who already has a wife. Still as a result of her doggedness she scaled through and made huge living. Therefore, it merited more than the said production capital.

However, Clarion Chukwura who interpreted the role of this strong and hard working woman now late, was hired with the whooping sum of N10million. Clarion explained that Yepayeye is the most challenging role that she has ever played, as she had to live the character of a woman who died less than six months to her production and was still fresh in people’s minds.

She stated in an interview during the premiere in March 7, “It was challenging because I had to be as believable as possible.  This was a woman who died less than six months to production and we shot it in her community where her memory was still fresh, so I had to play her as accurately as possible.  This was not an Abraham Lincoln that had passed on a long time ago.  The challenge was that everybody wanted to see her in me so I would say it was more difficult acting a true story in her environment, especially as she was a woman that impacted in her community greatly.  It was a challenge I was happy to take.”