Friday, March 30, 2007


The Bold, The Cool & The Beautiful

I cornered Kate Henshaw, Actor and TV presenter, at a rehearsal for my last stage presentation. Kate, always full of life and a personal favourite of mine, sat to answer a few questions.

laspapi: What's your middle name, Kate?
Kate: Offiong

laspapi: Whas tha' mean?
Kate: It means the moon, usually used for first-born children

laspapi: You were born in July, your zodiac sign's Cancer, governed by the moon. Was the moon-name deliberate?
Kate: Nah! It's co-incidental.

laspapi: Which state are you from?
Kate: (with a disdainful look) Cross River. Where'd you think?

laspapi: It could've been Akwa Ibom
Kate: Please.

laspapi: Where in Cross River?
Kate: Henshaw Town. The name came from slave masters.

(laspapi- I think we should go give london and philadelphia our own names)

laspapi: Who do you look up to?
Kate: (Strongly) My mother. She's forgiving, prayerful, supportive and humble.

laspapi: You look like an extrovert...
Kate: EXTROVERT with capital letters. (If you're out with Kate, you'll understand. She's like a live wire, humming, vibrating all the time. One can see Kate is glad to be alive and its beautiful to watch)

laspapi: Your kind of Man?
Kate: I like outgoing types. He must be generous and caring, and a sense of humour is essential.

laspapi: What is love, Kate?
Kate: (pauses) Love is gentle, selfless. It's a warm, warm feeling that should be reciprocal. Love should give more than it receives.

laspapi: perfume?
Kate: I have no favourites. I mix Gucci, Armani, Channel... (I know Kate loves perfumes. She never fails to remark on them when I'm with her)

laspapi: If you had only 5 minutes to make a great escape, what would you take?
Kate: My phones and my bag containing money. I can use money to buy whatever I leave behind.

laspapi: Clothes designer?
Kate: I'm not a designer freak but my Jeans are always from NEXT

laspapi: Shoes?
Kate: Good ones.

(laspapi and Kate freestyled with Words and Associations. Stella Damasus had warned Kate about my 'Free Association')

laspapi: love
Kate: (With a beautiful smile) Nice!

laspapi: Marriage
Kate: Good

laspapi: Money
Kate: Fantastic!

laspapi: Sex
Kate: Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!

laspapi: Nigeria
Kate: Stressful

laspapi: America
Kate: Wow!

laspapi: Nollywood
Kate: Teething

laspapi: Hollywood
Kate: (long pause) The world standard (Kate is the P.R.O. of Nollywood's actors' guild which might account for her pondering how long it'll take us to reach the Hollywood heights)

laspapi: A word for people who want to become like you
Kate: Make sure you finish school. Don't come into it looking for fame or money. You must have a love of the craft because there will be dry seasons.

laspapi: (my favourite question) Can you see your unborn children in my eyes?
Kate: (startled) What? Are you serious, Wole? That can't be part of the questions. It is? No, you're joking. I can't see them there. No, no, no. You're not well.

laspapi: (reluctantly moving on) A word for posterity?
Kate: I want to be remembered as someone who smiled, who made people very happy. It takes more muscles to frown than to smile. I'll be smiling all the way.

6 comments:

In my head and around me said...

Kate has a lovely smile! Nothing about her answers suprise me. Extrovert? She sure comes across as one! Nice interview.

Naija Vixen said...

Nice interview...Kate is teww guud...and are answers are very str8forward...none of all that media training....

laspapi said...

Thanx, In my Head. Many thanx.

@ naija vixen- I consider her very special

feefey said...

kate is a lovely lady.Most especially is her extremely cute daughter, oh i want a cute little girl like that, and her name is gabrielle;my very favorite name, tell her someone's a fan of her daughters,soo cuuute

Anonymous said...

I think she's absolutely gorgeous.. i'm watching this nigerian movie that she starred in i think its called games men play... she rocks!I love the way she speaks... there's some authority in her voice.. like a woman who knows what she wants... and goes after it.. it's also in her responses... rock on mami!

laspapi said...

mimi, I'll be sure to let Kate know how you feel.

@ Storm- Its funny you mentioned her voice. Its always caught my attention. Commanding...