‘Glamour Girls’ sex scene affected my marriage, led to my suspension from church – Zack Orji

Veteran Nollywood actor Zack Orji has revealed that his role in the 1994 movie “Glamour Girls” had a negative impact on his marriage.

Mr. Orji and fellow actor Eucharia Anunobi were involved in a contentious naked scene that caused a lot of controversy and gossip.

Speaking on the podcast “Nollywood Hardcore: The Legend’s Untold Story,” Mr. Orji clarified that his wife was told unfavorable rumors about his performance in the movie, which caused tension in their union.

His pastor also suspended him from church functions as a result of this rumour.

“Even though she’s an actress, but they were putting a lot of things on her mind,” he said.

“My pastor invited me. Then I was a member of the Board of Trustees of the church. He said that he had been receiving too many calls from members from other members of the Board of Trustees. ‘How can Zach go and do this kind of thing? it is scandalous’

“He said he called me because he wanted to suspend me but he wanted to inform me first of all before suspending so eventually I was suspended for a month,” Orji recalled.

According to the actor, this made him to leave the church requesting that his name be deleted from all documents and the Board of Trustees.

He said although the pastor later reached out, stating that they had retracted the suspension and didn’t want him to leave, Orji stated that his decision was final, and he had made up his mind to move on.

When asked if he had any regrets about playing the role, he said “No.”

The two-part film “Glamour Girls,” directed by Chika Onukwufor, portrayed the lives of independent single women in Nigeria’s patriarchal society who turned to escorting.

“We looked like we were naked but we were not. She wasn’t Naked. I wasn’t naked but it was so well done because first of all as an actor, your primary job is not only to create the illusion of being someone else in the minds of the audience, but it is also your job to create believability in the minds of your audience that whatever they watch you do, they believe that it is real,” the actor said.

The movie highlighted their struggles to balance personal ambitions with societal expectations.

One of the film’s most talked-about scenes involved Mr Orji and Eucharia Anunobi in an erotic bathtub scene.

Reflecting on the film’s impact, he said despite his wife’s understanding of the acting profession, she objected to such role.

However, they learnt to move past the setback.